A NEW bridge has been officially opened in a remote area in Co Kerry where a lightweight bridge collapsed under a truckload of pigs four years ago.
After controversy about delays and funding costs, Kerry County Council gave assurances last night that the new steel structure was fit for purpose. It has a single-span steel truss structure on raised concrete abutments.
Council spokesman Pádraig Corkery said the new €1.5 million structure was permanent. It did not have the weight-bearing restrictions of the Bailey bridge and it would accommodate a heavy truck.
The original iron Bailey bridge at Ballynagare, over the river Brick, was erected by Army engineers in 1993 and connected the farming villages of Lixnaw and Ballyduff. It had itself replaced an 1889 structure. The Bailey had a maximum load weight of just 12 tonnes when the 45-tonne Northern Ireland truck attempted to cross it.
The truck, carrying 241 pigs, had almost reached the other side when the bridge gave way, a court case heard later.
The pigs had to be put down after suffering stress and a major operation involving cranes and the emergency services got under way to pull the truck out of the river.
The Co Tyrone driver was convicted of careless driving and fined €300 at Listowel District Court.
Its replacement became the subject of heated political debate, even reaching national level. Shortly before the local elections in 2009 during a visit to Listowel, then taoiseach Brian Cowen was approached directly by members of the bridge action committee who had been trying in vain to persuade the local council to replace it.
Funding had been approved by the Department of Transport in 2007 at about the time of the general election, but it had stalled. Days after the taoiseach’s visit to Listowel, Kerry County Council announced it was getting the funding and was going ahead with reconstruction.
Mayor of Kerry Pat Leahy officially opened the bridge yesterday.
“The absence of the bridge caused great inconvenience for the local commuters between Lixnaw and Ballyduff and during the summer for numerous visitors . . . Farmers with land on both sides of the river were seriously inconvenienced at the time as it added miles to their daily journey,” he said.
Kerry County Council applied for €1.25 million funding for the project, which was approved by the department in 2007 under the specific improvements grant scheme. Construction began in January 2010 and the bridge and roadworks were completed in October.