Endgame as Beckett Bridge arrives

The latest bridge to span the River Liffey arrived in Dublin this morning.

The Samuel Beckett Bridge will span the river between Guild Street at the northern quays and connect with Sir John Rogerson's Quay about 70 metres west of Cardiff Lane.

The bridge, which is due to open next year, was designed by Dr Santiago Calatrava Valls who was also behind the James Joyce Bridge which opened close to Heuston Station in 2003.

The new bridge will be capable of rotating through an angle of 90 degrees to facilitate maritime traffic and it has four traffic lanes, cycle tracks and footpaths.

The €59 million bridge arrived on a barge into Dublin Port this morning having charted its way from Rotterdam, across the English Channel and Irish Sea.

It is to travel through the Eastlink Bridge during high tide tomorrow morning and will be secured adjacent to the south quayside for a number of weeks before being placed on its supporting pier in the river.

The bridge is a cable-stayed steel box girder structure with a span of 120 metres between north and south quay walls.

Construction began on the bridge in the Netherlands in May 2007. As part of the civil and marine works, a reinforced concrete support pier has been cast in the Liffey along with abutments behind the quay walls. The abutments and pier rest on piles up to 20 metres in length, which were bored into the limestone rock underneath the riverbed.

The bridge, which was constructed by Graham Hollandia, is funded by the Department of the Environment, Dublin Docklands Development Authority and Dublin city council.