The River Suir Bridge is a

cable-stayed bridge A cable-stayed bridge has one or more ''towers'' (or ''pylons''), from which cables support the bridge deck. A distinctive feature are the cables or stays, which run directly from the tower to the deck, normally forming a fan-like pattern o ...

over the

River Suir The River Suir ( ; ga, an tSiúr or ''Abhainn na Siúire'' ) is a river in Ireland that flows into the Atlantic Ocean through Waterford after a distance of . The catchment area of the Suir is 3,610 km2.

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

. It was built as part of the N25

Waterford "Waterford remains the untaken city" , mapsize = 220px , pushpin_map = Ireland#Europe , pushpin_map_caption = Location within Ireland##Location within Europe , pushpin_relief = 1 , coordinates ...

Bypass, and opened to traffic on 19 October 2009, some ten months ahead of schedule. The Viking settlement at

Woodstown Woodstown ( ga, Baile na Coille, IPA: �bˠalʲəˈnˠaˈkɛl̪ʲə is home to a historic settlement measuring 1.5 km by 0.5 km, located on the southern bank of the River Suir, about 5.5 km west of Waterford City in the southeast ...

was discovered during the project and the route of the southern approach roads was altered to preserve the site. The 230 metre main span had the longest single bridge span in the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern side of the island. A ...

, until the opening of the

Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Bridge The Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Bridge is an extradosed bridge over the River Barrow in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It was built as part of the N25 road (Ireland), N25 New Ross Bypass, and was officially opened on 29 January 2020 by Taoiseach Leo ...

, taking that record from the

Boyne River Bridge The Mary McAleese Boyne Valley Bridge is a cable-stayed bridge in County Meath, and County Louth, Ireland. It spans the Boyne River west of Drogheda on the county boundary between County Meath and County Louth and is part of the M1 Norther ...

on the

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdo ...

M1 motorway The M1 motorway connects London to Leeds, where it joins the A1(M) near Aberford, to connect to Newcastle. It was the first inter-urban motorway to be completed in the UK; the first motorway in the country was the Preston By-pass, which lat ...

. By comparison, the main span of the

Foyle Bridge The Foyle Bridge is a bridge in Derry, Northern Ireland. The central cantilever span of the bridge is the second longest on the island of Ireland, at 234 metres (767 ft), and the whole suspended bridge structure including the approach spans ...

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

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".

Other bridges at Waterford City

* The first permanent bridge at Waterford City was the so-called "Timbertoes" bridge (1793-1913) * It was replaced by the Redmond Bridge (1910-1984) * The current city-centre bridge is the Rice Bridge (1982–present) * The River Suir Bridge marks the first time Waterford city has been served by two bridges

Gallery

Suir Bridge.JPG, The Suir Bridge under construction in April 2009 River Suir Bridge tower.JPG, The tower on opening day River Suir Bridge tower (close-up).JPG, Close-up of the tower on opening day Suir RiverBridge looking south(Edit).jpg, Opening day

References

{{coord, 52.2788, N, 7.151, W, source:dewiki_region:IE_type:landmark, format=dms, display=title Buildings and structures in County Waterford Bridges in County Kilkenny Cable-stayed bridges in Ireland Bridges completed in 2009 Toll bridges in the Republic of Ireland

Overview

Other bridges at Waterford City

Gallery

See also

References