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Ha'penny Bridge (Droichead na Life)

Liffey Bridge, Droichead na Leathphingine, Wellington Bridge

Ha'penny Bridge (Droichead na Life)

Primary Photographer(s): Bob Dover

Bridge Documented: February 20, 2014

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Facility Carried / Feature Intersected
Pedestrian Walkway Over River Liffey (An Life)
Location
Dublin (Baile Átha Cliath): Leinster (Laighin): Ireland (Éire)
Construction Date and Builder / Engineer
1816 By Builder/Contractor: Coalbrookdale Company of Coalbrookdale, Shropshire, England and Engineer/Design: John Windsor
Rehabilitation Date
Not Available or Not Applicable
Main Span Length
141.0 Feet (43 Meters)
Structure Length
141.0 Feet (43 Meters)
Roadway Width
12 Feet (3.66 Meters)
Spans
1 Main Span(s)
Inventory Number
Not Applicable

Historic Significance Rating (HSR)
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Bridge Documentation

This famous Dublin bridge is noted for its amazingly slender cast iron construction.

Bob Dover provided the following comments:
This is the most iconic, landmark bridge serving as a readily recognizable symbol of the city of Dublin.  The deck is curved upward, along with the very high arch, and has ornate white iron lampposts suspended above the heads of pedestrians.  The bridge is located in the very center of the tourist area of Dublin, the Temple Bar, so is overrun with tourist traffic all day and night.  A lot of this traffic is to get from one tourist area to another, but a large number of people come just to see the bridge.  In the 1990s, the bridge got so crowded that a new pedestrian bridge, Millennium Bridge, was built adjacent, just to take the pressure off.

Official Heritage Listing Information and Findings

Rating: National

Discussion:

Reg. Number: 50060550

Description
Single-span cast-iron footbridge spanning River Liffey, erected 1816. Alcoved ashlar granite abutments support single-span low-rise elliptical arch of cast-iron bolted segments, with cast-iron railed parapet, and having three decorative pierced ogee-profile overarching lamp standards with cast-iron lamps. Timber decking. Accessed by flight of granite steps at each end.

Appraisal
The Liffey Bridge is known colloquially as the Ha'penny Bridge, following its original status as a toll bridge when it replaced an earlier ferry crossing over the river. It is completely of cast-iron, an innovative material at the time. It was erected in 1816 to designs by John Windsor, and manufactured at the celebrated Coalbrookedale foundry in Shropshire, the manufactory of the first iron bridge in 1779. It remains an elegant structure with iconic status for the city. That it is still in use today is a testament to its early nineteenth-century designers and manufacturers responsible for its construction.

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Photo Galleries and Videos: Ha'penny Bridge (Droichead na Life)

 

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Maps and Links: Ha'penny Bridge (Droichead na Life)

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