Boost for beet as bridge collapses
Page 13

If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
BEET HAULIERS in Ireland are awaiting a call for extra trucks to handle the beet harvest following a derailment of a freight train in Co Tipperary.
The railway leading to a beet factory will be closed for months following the partial collapse of a bridge over the river Suir.
Six wagons containing bulk cement tumbled 50 feet into the river as a 100m section of bridge fell apart; the driver escaped uninjured.
The line carries five beet trains a day from Wellington Bridge, Co Wexford to the Mallow, Co Cork sugar factory. This rises to 10 trainloads a day during the harvest, which is due to start soon.
Irish Rail might re-route beet trains through the rail system but it is still likely to need more trucks.
However, local haulier Bill Ryan, whose family has hauled beet for 60 years, warns that extra trucks will cause problems of their own: The road is a dirt track and there is hardly room for two trucks to pass in places."
Beet haulage is traditionally managed by the Beet Hauliers Association (BHA), Irish Rail, farmers, and the beet factory. Any call for extra road vehicles will be processed through the BHA offices in Carlow.