Limerick Tunnel Closed

fryup

its the..."not high enough for a trailer load of hay" tunnel

MyPeopleDrankTheSoup

pcuser wrote: »

I feel sorry for the 5 people that use the tunnel every day.

curious about this, I'm in Ennis and the tunnel saves about 30 mins coming from Dublin or Cork to Ennis.

do Limerick locals not use the tunnel at all? i suppose it can get kinda pricey

thesimpsons

georgiecasey wrote: »

curious about this, I'm in Ennis and the tunnel saves about 30 mins coming from Dublin or Cork to Ennis.

do Limerick locals not use the tunnel at all? i suppose it can get kinda pricey

use it regularly - 5 times a week approx. might not suit alot of locals as they go about daily routes as through traffic in limerick isn't that bad most of the day but for anyone bypassing limerick to/from Ennis/Dublin I'd highly recommend it.

Red Silurian

fryup wrote: »

its the..."not high enough for a trailer load of hay" tunnel

No... It's the "high enough to fit a vehicle up to the maximum legally permissable road height of 4.65m" tunnel

Source: here

In saying that I think the Tunnel itself is designed to allow up to 5m in height but the amount allowed is reduced for obvious reasons.

Cookiemunster

colmtheperson wrote: »

No... It's the "high enough to fit a vehicle up to the maximum legally permissable road height of 4.65m" tunnel

Source: here

In saying that I think the Tunnel itself is designed to allow up to 5m in height but the amount allowed is reduced for obvious reasons.

If it was designed for a 5m load, then the 5m load of hay wouldn't have gotten stuck.

Red Silurian

Cookiemunster wrote: »

If it was designed for a 5m load, then the 5m load of hay wouldn't have gotten stuck.

Obviously the load of Hay was more than 5m then

orm0nd

fryup wrote: »

its the..."not high enough for a trailer load of hay" tunnel

not that it matters but it was straw actually

afaik the driver isn't a farmer , that doesnt matter either,

Cookiemunster

colmtheperson wrote: »

Obviously the load of Hay was more than 5m then

It's not designed for 5m height though. The tunnel is 4.9m in height and has a lot of electrical equipment hanging from the ceiling. It was designed to take 4.65m high vehicles.

colm_mcm

pcuser wrote: »

I feel sorry for the 5 people that use the tunnel every day.

I used to use it 10 times a week when I worked on that side of the city. Know plenty people who use it daily.

Cartman78

Any update yet on when this will be fully open??

The AA Roadwatch update is fairly vague

pajoguy

Use the tunnel twice daily. It is a blessing to be honest. Anybody that doesnt use it out of protest is crazy. Time savings are about 1 hour each day. 40 mins in the morning and 20 in the evening. Not to mind fuel.

As for the height its well flagged in advance.

Cookiemunster

Cartman78 wrote: »

Any update yet on when this will be fully open??

The AA Roadwatch update is fairly vague

There's a notice on their website saying they hope to fully open on Wednesday morning.

washman3

Barriers are far too close to the tunnel entrance. Should be at least 100 metres from the entrance with the height sensors a further 100 metres back.
This happened many years back when the Jack Lynch tunnel opened in Cork.
Was anything learned here.
We are all in agreement that the truck driver is a 'tool', but we must plan for 'tools'. Without 'tools' there would be no need for insurance companies.
Wouldn't be surprised if the tunnel company get their knuckles wrapped also, (along with the tool)

Comhrá

washman3 wrote: »

Barriers are far too close to the tunnel entrance. Should be at least 100 metres from the entrance with the height sensors a further 100 metres back.
This happened many years back when the Jack Lynch tunnel opened in Cork.
Was anything learned here.
We are all in agreement that the truck driver is a 'tool', but we must plan for 'tools'. Without 'tools' there would be no need for insurance companies.
Wouldn't be surprised if the tunnel company get their knuckles wrapped also, (along with the tool)

Ah come on now - isn't having the knuckles wrapped painful enough????

washman3

tippman1 wrote: »

[/B]

Ah come on now - isn't having the knuckles wrapped painful enough????

Good one.!!
Another poster (number 40) wants the driver tarred and feathered and the farmer receiving the hay fined €100,000
North Korea style..!!!

Cookiemunster

washman3 wrote: »

Barriers are far too close to the tunnel entrance. Should be at least 100 metres from the entrance with the height sensors a further 100 metres back.

The height sensors are back before the previous junction as are the VMS signs which tell the over height vehicle to divert at that junction. Moving the sensors back 100m isn't going to make idiot drivers obey these warnings.

washman3 wrote: »

Wouldn't be surprised if the tunnel company get their knuckles wrapped also, (along with the tool)

I'd be shocked if the got their knuckles rapped. The safety systems are signed off by TII and did what the are designed to do. You simply can't legislate for stupidity.

Irish_rat

pajoguy wrote: »

Use the tunnel twice daily. It is a blessing to be honest. Anybody that doesnt use it out of protest is crazy. Time savings are about 1 hour each day. 40 mins in the morning and 20 in the evening. Not to mind fuel.

As for the height its well flagged in advance.

The lad is taking the piss, it's really important to the city. Back in the days Munster game was on the queue on the dock road used to be ridiculous

washman3

Cookiemunster wrote: »

The height sensors are back before the previous junction as are the VMS signs which tell the over height vehicle to divert at that junction. Moving the sensors back 100m isn't going to make idiot drivers obey these warnings.



I'd be shocked if the got their knuckles rapped. The safety systems are signed off by TII and did what the are designed to do. You simply can't legislate for stupidity.

Not much use if having VMS signs flashing if the driver cant read or speak English or is just plain stupid.
Safety systems are clearly inadequate, it should be physically impossible for a load over 4.65m to even reach the tunnel opening.

fryup

orm0nd wrote: »

afaik the driver isn't a farmer , that doesnt matter either,

well it does, cause the first few posters were pointing the finger at farmers

so there:P

air

grogi wrote: »

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Limerick_Tunnel

Maybe a mod could rename the thread title then, I tried and failed.

yop

air wrote: »

Maybe a mod could rename the thread title then, I tried and failed.

Why rename it?

zulutango

yop wrote: »

Why rename it?

The tunnel is called "The Limerick Tunnel" not "The Shannon Tunnel".

dashoonage

zulutango wrote: »

The tunnel is called "The Limerick Tunnel" not "The Shannon Tunnel".

and not a single **** was given that day.....

zulutango

dashoonage wrote: »

and not a single **** was given that day.....

I'd say not. There was a bit of a furore when it was being named though. Those Clare b***rds tried to get in on the act if I recall correctly.

Irish_rat

There seemed to be more than 5 on it this morning. Well 5 tools that merge right in at the very end.

Never let them in

Cookiemunster

Irish_rat wrote: »

There seemed to be more than 5 on it this morning. Well 5 tools that merge right in at the very end.

Never let them in

Zipper merging is actually far more efficient than everyone queueing in one lane. There's been plenty of studies to prove it. Although if you want to waste your time sitting in a traffic queue when there's a perfectly good lane not being used that's your own business.

Cookiemunster

Looks like it'll be fully reopened by tomorrow morning. http://www.limerickleader.ie/news/home/215762/limerick-tunnel-set-to-reopen-following-weekend-incident.html

Irish_rat

Cookiemunster wrote: »

Zipper merging is actually far more efficient than everyone queueing in one lane. There's been plenty of studies to prove it. Although if you want to waste your time sitting in a traffic queue when there's a perfectly good lane not being used that's your own business.

Have you evidence to backup your claim. Sounds like total b****ox

grogi

Irish_rat wrote: »

Have you evidence to backup your claim. Sounds like total b****ox

http://arstechnica.com/cars/2014/07/the-beauty-of-zipper-merging-or-why-you-should-drive-ruder/
http://www.dot.state.mn.us/zippermerge/
http://www.welikela.com/studies-show-merge-lanes-douchebag-ease-traffic-congestion/

Three first links from google...

osarusan

Cookiemunster wrote: »

Zipper merging is actually far more efficient than everyone queueing in one lane. There's been plenty of studies to prove it. Although if you want to waste your time sitting in a traffic queue when there's a perfectly good lane not being used that's your own business.

How does zipper merging actually help cars travel faster through a bottleneck?

The efficiency mentioned in the links above is related to reducing the length of the tailback, (because instead of 1 lane with say 1000 cars in it, there are 2 lanes with 500 cars in each) which means junctions before the bottleneck are not congested and people can get off the road more easily - so there are few cars caught up in a tailback who actually want to get off the road before they would reach the tailback.

But it doesn't mean that the cars actually get through the bottleneck any more quickly, does it? It would only be more effective in that way if zipper merging actually increased the speed at which cars can travel through the bottleneck, but I didn't see that mentioned.