THE northbound bore of the Limerick Tunnel is not expected to reopen until later this week after specialist equipment on the tunnel roof was damaged when a truck carrying hay bales became wedged last Sunday.
Despite the advance warning signs as to height restrictions of 4.65m, the driver proceeded through the tunnel with his truck at an estimated height of over 5m.
Subsequently the load of bales struck lighting and specialist equipment ripping it from the tunnel ceiling.
The incident happened at around 8.30am last Sunday.
Gardai were forced to put a contra flow system in place with all traffic now using the southbound lane. Speed restrictions of 50km/h are now in place.
The tunnel is expected to reopen later this week.
Speaking on Limerick’s Live95FM news, Declan Cahill, the Chief Executive of DirectRoute Limited which operates the Tunnel said:
“We have had quite a substantial amount of damage to signs, lights and the electronic system.”
He added that work to repair the tunnel’s northbound lane will take a “number of days.”
