The Irish National War Memorial Gardens, located east of Dublin’s city centre on the southern bank of the River Liffey, are among Europe’s most renowned memorial gardens. Designed over a century ago, they commemorate the 49,400 Irish soldiers who died in the First World War. The original design envisaged a bridge connecting the gardens with Phoenix Park, but this link was never realised and the concept remained incomplete.
The proposed combined pedestrian and cycle bridge will finally fulfil this historic design intent. Following the alignment indicated in Sir Edwin Lutyens’ original sketch, it will create a new ceremonial entrance to the gardens and provide a vital link for pedestrians and cyclists crossing the river from Phoenix Park, allowing access for reflection and onward travel.
The bridge structure is the first of its kind: a variable-depth steel box girder constructed from clad-steel – a material never before used in bridge construction. Clad-steel is a composite of 20 mm mild steel and a 3 mm stainless-steel outer layer, hot-rolled to form a single material that combines durability, structural efficiency, and corrosion resistance.
Designed as an integral structure, the bridge eliminates the need for bearings, significantly enhancing long-term durability. It is supported by large duplex stainless-steel lamella plates that transfer vertical loads while allowing limited movement for the deck to “breathe”. These plates are directly connected to piled foundations, enabling an exceptionally slender mid-span and resulting in a minimalist structural expression.
