Repairs on a leaking section of the Dublin Port Tunnel will not affect its targeted opening date of April, Dublin City Council said today.
Dublin City Council, project managers of the Port Tunnel, confirmed two leaks have been repaired over the last 18 months and a third is now being fixed.
The council's deputy engineer, Tim Brick, said the leak on a four-by-four metre section was "not a major problem" and would be repaired within a week.
Mr Brick said he was confident the 4.5km route would be open and carrying around 9,000 trucks a day by April.
He said the cause of the leak was a defective concrete lining that should have been 300 to 400 millimetres thick contained "hollows" and had to be cut out. He said it was an "isolated incident" identified by "quality control checks".
The contractor would be footing the bill for the repair, Mr Brick added.
The long awaited tunnel, which could cost anything from €700m to €1.3 billion when finished, has been dogged by controversy from day one. The opening date was originally set for early 2005, but a series of delays have pushed it back until April 2006.