Carries 4 lanes Locale Waterford City Design cable-stayed bridge | Crosses River Suir Maintained by Celtic Roads Group Total length 465m | |
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The River Suir Bridge is a cable-stayed bridge over the River Suir in Ireland. It was built as part of the N25 Waterford Bypass, and opened to traffic on the 19 October 2009, some ten months ahead of schedule. The Viking settlement at Woodstown was discovered during the project and the route of the southern approach roads was altered to preserve the site.
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The 230 metre main span has the longest single bridge span in the Republic of Ireland, taking that record from the Boyne River Bridge on the Dublin to Belfast M1 motorway. By comparison, the main span of the Foyle Bridge in Northern Ireland is four metres longer.
Overview
The cable-stayed bridge with its 112 metre tall tower, is a landmark structure for Waterford City and surrounding areas. The tower is constructed on the south side of the river. A series of “stay cables” fan out from the top of the tower to support the main span at intervals of about 10 metres. Corresponding cables fan to the back spans using the weight of the back span and anchor piles to balance the forces and “keep the tower standing straight”.