Iarnród Éireann has identified 350 bridges across the State which may not be able to accommodate "supertrucks" which road hauliers want to keep on the road.
In a report sent to the Minister for Transport, Mr Brennan, the rail company says that 350 out of the 414 bridges which cross over roads are less than 5 metres in height, too low for many of the new supercube trucks.
The statistics will bolster Mr Brennan's argument that the new trucks, which will not fit through Dublin's Port Tunnel, should be banned from Dublin city centre.
A spokesman for Iarnród Éireann said it had been forced to spend €20 million on replacing a bridge in Dublin after it was repeatedly struck by passing trucks.
"Bridge strikes happen because hauliers are reckless with their loads. We had to raise the height of East Wall Road Bridge last year after it was struck around 100 times over a 20-year period," the spokesman said.
"Fifty of those incidents took place in the last five years, because of the increase in the height of trucks," he added. Mr Brennan met with the Irish Road Haulage Association yesterday and said he would introduce a national height restriction for all trucks in consultation with the industry.
A spokesman for the Minister said the height restrictions were not being prompted by the Port Tunnel but by mounting safety concerns over the vehicles.
"This isn't just a matter for commerce and trade, although that is important. It is an issue of safety and whether the people of Ireland want these trucks going through their towns and villages," the spokesman said.
While the Port Tunnel has a height restriction of 4.65 metres, supercube trucks are up to 4.95 metres in height, while a normal truck ranges from 4 metres to 4.25 metres.
A spokesman for the Irish Road Haulage Association, Mr Jimmy Quinn, said any ban on supercube trucks would damage trade and impact on a range of businesses. "This isn't a European problem. It is an Irish-UK trade issue. We have a totally separate fleet to service the UK and lots of business would inevitably feel the effects of a ban," he said.
