Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Bridge

The Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Bridge is an extradosed bridge over the River Barrow in Ireland. It was built as part of the N25 New Ross Bypass, and was officially opened on 29 January 2020 by Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and opened to traffic on 30 January 2020, becoming Ireland's longest bridge.[2][3]

Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Bridge
Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Bridge
Coordinates52°21′24″N 6°59′32″W
CarriesN25 road
CrossesRiver Barrow
LocaleGlenmore
Official nameRose Fitzgerald Kennedy Bridge
Maintained byBAM Civil and Iridium[1]
Characteristics
DesignExtradosed bridge
MaterialConcrete
Total length887 metres (2,910 ft)
Longest span230 metres (750 ft)
No. of spans9
Piers in water1
Clearance above36 metres (118 ft)
History
DesignerARUP and Carlos Fernandez Casado SL
Construction start2016
Construction endDecember 2019
Opened30 January 2020
Location

Name

The bridge is controversially officially named after Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy, the mother of former US President John F. Kennedy whose ancestors came from nearby Dunganstown.[4] It is also popularly referred to as the Pink Rock Bridge[5] or as the New Ross Bypass Bridge, and as the Barrow Crossing in technical materials related to its construction.

Overview
Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Bridge (night view)

The 230 metres (750 ft) main spans of the bridge are the longest concrete-only extradosed box-girder bridge spans in the world. The spans are equal in length to the main span of the N25 Suir Bridge in Waterford; and four metres shorter the main span of the Foyle Bridge in Northern Ireland, which is 21 metres shorter in total length. The two central main spans are supported by a central plane of stay cables passing through saddles located on three towers at the three central supports. The distinctive feature of the Bridge is the different height of the towers. The side towers have a height of 16.2m and have 8 passing cables and the central pier has a height of 27.0m and 18 passing cables.

Construction method

The side spans over dry land on both sides of the river Barrow were built using a scaffold and a wing form traveller. The main spans were built using the balanced cantilever method. At its maximum length from the central pier, the west span cantilevered 140m over the river.

Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Bridge during construction

See also

References
  1. "N25 New Ross Bypass". BAM PPP. Retrieved 4 August 2019.
  2. O'Brien, Tim (29 July 2019). "Work on State's longest bridge delays New Ross bypass opening". The Irish Times. Retrieved 4 August 2019.
  3. "Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Bridge to finally open on January 29". kilkennynow.ie. 17 January 2020. Retrieved 23 January 2020.
  4. Keyes, Dermot (11 April 2019). "More sparks fly over Rose Kennedy Bridge". The Munster Express. Retrieved 4 August 2019.
  5. Looby, David (13 October 2018). "Bridge name confirmed after four long years". Irish Independent. Retrieved 31 January 2020.
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