River Suir Bridge

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.

River Suir Bridge

Carries                                         4 lanes

Crosses                                         River Suir

Locale                                          Waterford City

Design                                          cable-stayed bridge

Total length                                  465m

Width                                           30.6m

Height                                          112m

Longest span                                 230m

Number of spans                           5

Vertical clearance                         14m

Beginning date of construction      2006

Completion date                           2009

Opening date                               19 October 2009

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”.