Achill bridge failure causes traffic chaos

Achill bridge problems causes traffic chaos


Anton McNulty

The new Achill swing-bridge will be closed to maritime traffic for the next two months while a full diagnostic examination of the bridge takes place to ensure that it is operating correctly and there is no repeat of last week’s traffic chaos.
Last Friday, the new €5 milllion Michael Davitt swing-bridge could not close properly for over two hours causing traffic chaos for motorists entering and leaving the island. The traffic build up entering the island was particularly bad with reports of traffic jams of up to six miles long.
The traffic disruptions resulted in the cancellation of a funeral after the hearse was unable to get to Mayo General Hospital to collect the coffin from the morgue before it closed while the post was also late in leaving the island.
The problem arose at approximately 3pm when the bridge failed to close properly after it was opened to allow a boat through. During the final stages of the closing process, the bridge has to rise about seven inches to the road level but it failed to rise. Council staff and engineers worked frantically for the next two hours to solve the problem with only pedestrian traffic able to get across.
While an official explanation for the problem is not yet known, it is understood that an electrical problem resulted in the bridge failing to rise. Joe Beirne, Director of Services with Mayo County Council told The Mayo News that this type of problem was not acceptable and they do not intend to open it again until they are sure there will be no repeat of Friday’s calamities.
“We will be carrying out a full investigation in the coming days and there will be no question of us taking the chance of opening it again until everything is in order. We will be bringing in the designers and the contractors on site to carry out a full diagnostic check of the bridge to ensure everything is in order before opening it again. You don’t expect these problems on new bridges and we have to sort them out. Unfortunately it will mean we will not be able to open the bridge for boats in the next month or two but we just can’t take that chance again,” he said.
The new bridge has been dogged with problems since work started to replace the old bridge which ironically was replaced because it could not close properly. The construction of the bridge was months behind schedule and when it opened to traffic in December 2008 remedial work had to be carried out to stabilise the structure from the wind. Following this the barriers had to be replaced and there was also a lighting problem which left the bridge in darkness for a number of weeks last winter.
Achill councilor MicheΡl McNamara said last Friday’s problem should not have happened and thanked the public for their patience during the delay.
“This should not be a problem and Mayo County Council have to do what they have to do to ensure that this bridge works properly. No one expects a new structure to have a fault in it at this stage and it is very disappointing. Labour candidate in the General Election, Dr Jerry Cowley said that there were issues that needed to be addressed surrounding the new bridge and it was not acceptable that it is not working properly after so much money was spent on it.