Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 15 January 2014
921. Deputy Derek Nolan asked the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport his plans to improve the structural design of a bridge (details supplied) in County Galway to enable residents in the area to cross it safely; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [55306/13]
View answerThe improvement and maintenance of regional and local roads is the statutory responsibility of each local authority, in accordance with the provisions of Section 13 of the Roads Act 1993. Works on those roads are funded from local authorities own resources supplemented by State road grants. The initial selection and prioritisation of works to be funded is also a matter for the local authority.
However, my Department has received the following update from Galway County Council in relation to this bridge. The bridge on the Seanapheasteen known as Formeel Bridge is in very poor condition and following an assessment of its structural capacity, a 1.5 tonne max weight restriction was put in place. This is causing severe distress to one family and the situation has been re-examined and minor remedial works will be carried out to have the bridge propped to allow the weight restriction to be raised to 2.0 tonnes which would allow the family to cross the bridge in their adapted vehicle.
As the bridge is located in a SAC area all works require environmental assessment and, therefore, the proposal for the full upgrade of the bridge is being submitted for planning permission to An Bord Pleanála with an appropriate assessment in regards to the environmental issues. The interim propping measures have been agreed with National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS).
However, as the interim propping measures require Council staff to enter the river this has been delayed due to the flood levels in the river at present and will not proceed until the flood level abates. The methodology agreed with NPWS for carrying out the propping restricts machine access to the river. In reality the propping has to be done using manual labour due to the limited space available within the bridge cross section.
The actual interim propping works should not take more than three days to implement once conditions allow safe access to the river.
