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Dáil Éireann debate -
Wednesday, 21 May 2003

Vol. 567 No. 2

Other Questions. - Dublin Port Tunnel.

John Deasy

Question:

83 Mr. Deasy asked the Minister for Transport if he will review his plans not to increase the height of the Dublin Port tunnel; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13707/03]

Design and construction of the Dublin Port tunnel is a matter for the NRA and Dublin City Council as project managers. Work is well under way on construction of the tunnel on the basis of the motorway order made by the Minister for the Environment and Local Government in December 1999. Some 23 months of the 43 month construction contract have been completed.

I am informed by the NRA that approximately one third of the bored tunnel has now been constructed and major sections of the cut and cover tunnels have also been completed. Raising the height of the tunnel at this stage of the project would require reconstruction of works already completed, redesign of work, very significant additional costs and would significantly delay the completion and opening of the project.

Given the expense involved tunnels are always engineered to optimally provide for their functions in the minimum space safely possible. Internationally, this means that height provisions that might be applied for relatively inexpensive bridge structures on surface roads are rarely replicated in underground tunnels. The height of the Dublin Port tunnel is also on a par with best international practice in terms of tunnel heights. In a survey of 12 international countries, ten of those had height provisions equal to or less than the Dublin Port tunnel.

The Dublin Port Company has been monitoring the height of truck traffic on the busiest exit from the port, Tolka Quay, which accounts for more than three quarters of total truck traffic, continuously 24 hours a day, seven days a week and has supplied the results of its survey to Dublin City Council and the NRA. Of the total of nearly half a million trucks monitored, 99.4% are below 4.65 metres in height. This equates to an average of approximately 30 over height trucks per day from about 9,000 trucks. The Dublin Port tunnel as currently designed can cater for more than 99.4% of all truck traffic entering and leaving the port.

The trend in Europe is towards limiting the physical height of trucks on public roads and most countries operate a maximum height provision of just four metres. Given all these factors, I am satisfied with the decision of the NRA and Dublin City Council to proceed with the construction.

I listened with interest to the Minister's response on the metro for Dublin. We need to look to the next 50 to 60 years and we do not want to build something inferior. Is it not the case that the survey that was done on Dublin Port surveyed one of the four exits of Dublin Port? Is it not the case that 10% of the vehicles using Irish ferries are over the height of the Dublin Port tunnel and that over the next ten years that will increase to 20%? Is it not the case that the resund tunnel connecting Denmark and Sweden, an EU funded project, is 6.1 metres high? I also put it to the Minister that the tunnel we are building has a diameter of 12 metres. All we are looking for is the inner core of that to be extended by 30 centimetres.

I will certainly check the figures the Deputy has given. I do not have responses to the specific examples he has given but, to repeat, in counting nearly half a million trucks on the busiest exit from the port, the Dublin Port Company found that 99.4% of them were below 4.6 metres. This is the clearance height proposed by the tunnel constructors.

It is probably worth pointing out that the height of tunnels is, 4.6 metres in Denmark, 4.5 metres in France and Germany and Japan, not that the latter will worry us—

Why did the Danes build a tunnel of 6.1 metres?

It is 4.5 metres in The Netherlands, 4.6 metres in Norway, 4.5 metres in Switzerland and 4.9 metres in the United States. Thus, they are virtually all around 4.5 or 4.6 metres. Our tunnel is 4.65 metres in terms of clearance so in international terms this is substantially higher than in most countries.

I agree with the Minister and the Dublin city manager on this. There are many environmental and safety reasons we do not want super trucks on our roads. There is always the option, and it is a growing trend, to increase the capacity of trucks by length rather than height.

Some months ago the Minister of State, Deputy McDaid, gave an undertaking here to introduce regulations governing the height of trucks which had lapsed in 2000. He said he would introduce those regulations this month. Does the Govern ment still intend keeping to that undertaking and when will we see the regulations?

I understand that the Minister of State, Deputy McDaid, intends to introduce regulations limiting the height of trucks.

As soon as possible. I do not want to give the Deputy a day.

The Minister promised this month.

There are many issues to be dealt with and much consultation is required, but it will be done as soon as possible. We may tie it in with the completion of the tunnel. That is one option; it is not definite.

That is three years away.

According to the city manager it will be 24 months. He intends to introduce height restrictions on super-trucks as soon as possible.

Does the Minister also intend to impose a strict ban on any trucks accessing the city centre from the port area once the port tunnel is opened? Given the safety considerations in a tunnel – namely that no traffic can be left in a tunnel and all traffic must exit – is the Minister aware of the serious concerns of certain traffic engineers that there will be severe traffic management difficulties in the port area once the tunnel is opened and significant volumes are coming to the port area without an obvious access or exit point other than the East Link Bridge?

A traffic management plan will be introduced by the city council around the port area. The port tunnel is a major investment for the people that will deal with approximately 9,000 trucks, which is a significant volume. The Deputy's point about the city centre is one for Dublin City Council. I greatly support the idea and will make it clear to the council that the trucks should not be allowed in the city centre once the port tunnel is open.

Will the Minister admit that a mistake was made in not designing the tunnel to be high enough? The Minister has indicated to the haulage industry that he will ban trucks from entering the city centre. Will he allow those trucks to travel toll free if they stay away from the city centre? In view of the fact that the PD and Fianna Fáil Government is in tatters, will the Minister be around to implement this policy?

I will take the last question first, if I may. That is a matter for the Deputy's judgment; I plan to be around. It is not fruitful to consider whether mistakes were made. As I have already indicated, the reality is the tunnel will have a clearance of 4.5 metres in circumstances where most other countries have clearances of 4.5 metres. We very much adhere to the EU norm. I appreciate that the authorities in the UK take a slightly different view of this, as they tend to do about many European issues.

The UK is our biggest export market.

The current plan is that the trucks from Dublin Port will not pay a toll through the tunnel but motorcars will. Although that is the plan, I am keeping it under review.

Given that 60% of all our imports and exports go through Dublin Port, that these vehicles carry mainly foodstuffs which affect inflation and technology components that affect jobs across this city and throughout the country and that it would take 18 to 20 one-tonne trucks to cater for one so called super-truck, will the Minister reconsider his decision? In light of the fact that in Denmark where there is a clearance of 4.6 metres and Sweden where there is a clearance of 4.5 metres, a tunnel connecting those countries has a clearance of 6.1 metres it make logical sense for us to do this. Is it not the case that when the tunnel was originally planned it had the clearance for super-trucks and somebody forgot to put in extractor fans, explaining why we do not have that clearance today?

We have a clearance equal to or higher than 13 of the 15 EU states. I make no apology for saying it is important not to have these super-trucks. It is a matter for the Minister of State, Deputy McDaid to deal with the road haulage aspects of this. However Ireland—

Has to export everything.

—is now a very confident and mature country. If this is good enough for France and Germany – the Germans do not even allow trucks into their country—

With respect, our biggest trading partner is the UK.

It is not permitted to take a truck higher than 4 metres into Germany, Netherlands, Belgium or Portugal. We are talking about trucks that are at least 4.6 metres or 4.7 metres, so we do not need the super-trucks.

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