Fears over structure of bridge

THERE’S increasing anxiety in Killorglin over the safety of the town’s historic bridge over the River Laune, with no work undertaken in the past eight years to address an obvious dip in the structure that appears to be worsening.

Many now fear a major catastrophe on what is one of the most heavily trafficked large bridges in the entire county.

Kerry County Council insist that the ‘settlement’ - as it describes the subsidence – has been stopped as the result of works carried out in 2009, and a system of continuous assessment monitoring the situation since.

Cllr Quigg said many in Killorglin are worried in the absence of any major underpinning work since ‘09 - particularly in the light of recent other collapses at locations in the county.

“This is just it, we’ve seen what happened to the Gaddagh Bridge in Beaufort and others in the county and with the modern day weight and volume of traffic over a bridge originally built for horses and carts who’s to say it won’t happen again?” Sinn Féin County Councillor Damian Quigg asked.

He is to raise the issue at next week’s meeting of Kerry County Council in an attempt to discover what steps the Council is taking to ensure public safety and the viability of one of the county’s most iconic bridges.

He said he was ‘dumbfounded’ no works have taken place on the bridge in the past eight years.

“I’m dumbfounded. It must be the only bridge in Ireland that is on a national route of major tourist importance, giving onto the Ring of Kerry, one that is now under massive traffic weight in terms of the volume of frieght. If this was anywhere else in the country would it be left so long?”

“There was talk of a bypass over a new bridge. Businesses might have a concern about that going forward as it would bypass the town centre completely, but I think it could attract more people in while relieving congestion as you could pedestrianise part of the centre.”

Kerry County Council told The Kerryman that the issue is primarily a matter for Transport Infrastructure Ireland (formerly the NRA) as the bridge is on a national route.

The national body was tasked with carrying out an assessment of the eightarch structure last year, while the council added that works have been undertaken to strengthen the structure in the recent past.

“There were significant rehabilitation works undertaken on Laune Bridge in late 2009 which included piling (enhancements) of the bridge piers (uprights),” a spokesperson said.

The Council has been keeping an eye on the structure since: “The bridge has been subject to regular monitoring over the last five years where level surveys indicate that the works have been successful and the settlement has been arrested. “The bridge will continue to be monitored in conjunction with the TII,” they added.

Cllr Quigg is meanwhile also calling for a public meeting on the future of the bridge and other important infrastructure.

The issue has also been raised by Cllr Michael Cahill as well as by former councillor Johnny ‘Porridge’ O’Connor.