Two busy Tullamore bridges - work underway on one and October start for the other

WORK on Cox's/Clara Bridge in Tullamore has commenced and footpaths have been excavated, the September meeting of Tullamore Municipal District has heard.

''It has been curtailed this week due to the national ploughing championships but a traffic management system will be put in place after the event is over.'' Senior Executive Engineer Joe Dooley told members.

A letter drop to residents in the area was also undertaken as suggested by some of the councillors in order to keep them informed of what is happening.

The upgrade, which stretches from the front of Dolan’s Shop, includes new pedestrian crossings and a full junction realignment as part of a broader plan to improve access and safety in the area.

Meanwhile Tower Construction has won the contract for works at Bury/Whitehall Bridge.

''They haven't formally submitted a programme but we have had talks with them and work will commence the first week in October with a fairly short construction time on that. They will complete the project before the end of the year,'' said Mr Dooley.

The planned works for Bury Bridge and the Convent Road area are extensive. They include:

• New kerbing and footpaths

• Narrowing of the carriageway on Bury Bridge to allow one-way traffic

• Junction tightening at St Brigid’s Place and Convent Road

• Three controlled pedestrian crossings on Daingean Road and Convent Road

• An uncontrolled crossing at the junction of Bury Bridge and Daingean Road

• New signage and road lining to reflect one-way traffic
  
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Cox’s Bridge, was built in 1809. It is listed on the National Built Heritage Service website as a ''single-arch masonry bridge… carrying the Tullamore Clara road over the Grand Canal at the west end of the 27th lock.'' It’s part of a wider group of canal structures including the nearby lock and lock house — and is considered ''of architectural interest in terms of its quality of construction and its place in the series of canal bridges built at the end of the eighteenth and start of the nineteenth centuries.''

Bury Bridge is even older, dating back to 1799, and was constructed by the Grand Canal Company. The website notes it ''carries a roadway over an entrance into a canal dock,'' and retains ''many of the typical characteristics evident in canal bridges, such as its humped deck form, the mixture of finely tooled limestone and random coursed walls and towpaths which lead under the bridge.''

It was named after the owner of the Charleville Estate and continues to add to the historic ''canalscape'' of the area.