From this week’s Galway City Tribune – A pedestrian and cycling bridge on the old Clifden Railway Bridge which has been over two decades in the making has taken a step closer to completion.

A meeting of Galway City Council was told on Monday that a ‘preferred option’ had been selected for the project which will be installed on piers last traversed by rail traffic in the 1930s.

The design chosen, which replicates a traditional arched railway bridge, will now be submitted to the National Transport Authority for funding approval – with €5.5 million already in the kitty from the Urban Regeneration and Development Fund.

Regional Director for Bridges at Aecom, who were contracted by the Council to conduct the selection process, said that a recent survey of the buttresses built in 1885 for the railway showed they were in “excellent condition”.

“The mutualising of the existing structure will be feasible, and means that in-stream works will be minimal,” she said.

The bridge, which will be 4.25 metres in width, will span the Corrib from the Plots in Woodquay to an entry point adjacent to the rowing club in University of Galway.
This is a shortened preview version of this story. To read the rest of the article, see the March 10 edition of the Galway City Tribune. You can buy a digital edition HERE.