Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Bridge
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The Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Bridge is an
extradosed bridge An extradosed bridge employs a structure that combines the main elements of both a prestressed box girder bridge and a cable-stayed bridge. The name comes from the word ''wikt:extrados, extrados'', the exterior or upper curve of an arch, and refe ...
over the
River Barrow The Barrow () is a river in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is one of The Three Sisters (Ireland), The Three Sisters; the other two being the River Suir and the River Nore. The Barrow is the longest of the three rivers and, at 192 km (12 ...
in
Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...
. It was built as part of the N25
New Ross New Ross (, formerly ) is a town in southwest County Wexford, Republic of Ireland, Ireland, on the River Barrow on the border with County Kilkenny, northeast of Waterford. In 2022, it had a population of 8,610, making it the fourth-largest t ...
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. The bridge received in 2021 an
Outstanding Structure Award The Outstanding Structure Award is an award presented by the International Association for Bridge and Structural Engineering to the Engineer, Architect, Contractor, and the Owner in recognition of ''the most remarkable, innovative, creative or other ...
from the
International Association for Bridge and Structural Engineering The International Association for Bridge and Structural Engineering (IABSE) is a non-profit organisation with mission to promote the exchange of knowledge and to advance the practice of structural engineering worldwide in the service of the profes ...
.


Name

The bridge is controversially officially named after
Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Rose Elizabeth Fitzgerald Kennedy (July 22, 1890 – January 22, 1995) was an American philanthropist, socialite, and matriarch of the Kennedy family. She was deeply embedded in the "Lace curtain and shanty Irish, lace curtain" Irish-American c ...
, the mother of former US President
John F. Kennedy John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), also known as JFK, was the 35th president of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963. He was the first Roman Catholic and youngest person elected p ...
whose ancestors came from nearby Dunganstown. It is also popularly referred to as the Pink Rock Bridge or as the New Ross Bypass Bridge, and as the Barrow Crossing in technical materials related to its construction.


Overview

The 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 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 19 October 2009, some ten months ahead of schedule. The Viking settlement at Woodstown wa ...
in
Waterford Waterford ( ) is a City status in Ireland, city in County Waterford in the South-East Region, Ireland, south-east of Ireland. It is located within the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster. The city is situated at the head of Waterford H ...
; and four metres shorter the main span of the
Foyle Bridge The Foyle Bridge is a bridge in Derry, Northern Ireland. The central span of the bridge is the longest on the island of Ireland, at 234 metres (767 ft), and the whole suspended bridge structure including the approach spans is 866 metres lon ...
in
Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...
, 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.


See also

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Roads in Ireland The island of Ireland, comprising Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, has an extensive network of tens of thousands of kilometres of public roads, usually surfaced. These roads have been developed and modernised over centuries, from ...
*
Atlantic Corridor The Atlantic corridor or Atlantic motorway is a proposed road project in Ireland. The scheme, announced in 2005, was intended to link Waterford in the South-East to Letterkenny in the North-West via motorway or dual carriageway by 2015. Howev ...
*
List of Ireland-related topics ''This page aims to list articles related to the island of Ireland. This list is not necessarily complete or up to date; if you see an article that should be here but is not (or one that should not be here but is), please update the page according ...


References

{{authority control Extradosed bridges in Ireland Bridges in the Republic of Ireland Buildings and structures in County Wexford Bridges in County Kilkenny Cable-stayed bridges in Ireland Bridges completed in 2019 21st-century architecture in the Republic of Ireland