A tractor towing a trailer with three trucks on board caused major delays in the Jack Lynch Tunnel in Cork city this morning as it was too high to pass through.
The tractor triggered a height alarm from the tunnel's new sensor system at around 7.45am on Thursday.
Gardai were called to the scene and one lane of the tunnel was closed for a short period of time, causing traffic jams for commuters.
The Jack Lynch Tunnel has a maximum height restriction for vehicles of 4.6 metres.
A picture of the vehicle that caused the delay shows a tractor with a trailer carrying a truck, which has another smaller truck on top of it, and an even smaller truck on top of that - bringing it to over 4.6 metres.
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A new safety system has been a lot more stringent on vehicles going over the height limits.
Installed in March, it has taken away the 'wiggle room' that many HGV drivers had been used to at the tunnel.
Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII) says a combination of 'teething issues' and many drivers not being prepared for the more stricter new system has caused the recent lane closures at the Jack Lynch Tunnel.
Peter Horgan, local Labour Party representative for the South East Ward said the tunnel 'obviously has serious issues' with multiple over-height vehicle incidents happening on an almost daily basis.
"The collateral damage is the many thousands of ordinary commuters who use the tunnel every day and they need something to be done," he said.
He said the TII needs to look again at the sensors at the entrance to the tunnel and the information available to truck drivers and haulage companies.
"You drive towards the tunnel and you don't see the signs warning truck drivers that the sensors have change and the height level is being strictly enforced," he said.
"The message is obviously not getting through, to the truck drivers and the haulage companies, this needs to change."
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