COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

MEETING OF LUCAN AREA COMMITTEE

Tuesday, March 25, 2014

MOTION NO. 21

MOTION: Councillor E. Tuffy, Councillor C. Jones

"That this Committee would like to see substantial restoration work done on Liffey Bridge, Lucan, a structure of heritage value, not just for Lucan and the County, but nationally, and said to have been the longest single span bridge in Ireland. The restoration work should include restoration of the balustrades. The Committee requests the Manager to investigate, in the context of the Bridge's architectural and heritage importance to the Council, to investigate potential sources of funding for the works required, and if he will make a statement on the matter."

REPORT:

Extensive renovation works in the amount of approximately € 20,000 were carried out by a specialist contractor on this bridge in April 2011. This included steamwashing the stone elements of the bridge, repair of stone cappings, localised repointing of cappings and hand cleaning/painting of balustrades.  

In addition, a Principal Inspection was carried out in October 2012 by Roughan and O'Donovan Engineering Consultants as part of a county-wide survey of Regional and Local Bridges. The condition of the bridge was found to have an overall rating of 1, which is the highest rating that can be given in an inspection of this type. There were observations regarding minor repairwork that could be carried out on the trafficked pavement/deck and the removal of vegetation on the western elevation.

Irenie McLoughlin, Architectural Conservation Officer, is of the opinion that at the time of assessing the condition of the bridge in 2010, it was agreed that the necessary works for the balustrades would consist of cleaning and repainting as there were no signs of deterioration or damage. Given that the works were carried out during 2010/2011 it would be highly unlikely that the balustrades would need further work.

On foot of this motion, we carried out a detailed visual inspection of the bridge and noted some peeling of the paintwork on the balustrade. In addition, there is some vegetation on the western elevation, as noted in the Principal Inspection Report of October 2012. We will investigate the cost of repairing the paintwork on the balustrades and of removal of the vegetation. However, there are no sources of funding that either we or Ms. McLoughlin are aware of that could be used to carry out any additional work at this location.