Ha’penny bridge was closed for the restoration and a one-piece Bailey bridge located alongside for pedestrian crossing.
The bridge is a List 1 structure in the Dublin Corporation Development plan and takes its name from the Ha’Penny toll collected between its construction in 1816 to the toll ending in 1915. Although it’s present official name is the Liffey Bridge, it was originally the Wellington Bridge and comprises an assembly of elliptical arch ribs. These were most probably cast in the Coalbrookdale Works in Shropshire from a design attributed to Thomas Telford.
Ha’penny bridge was closed for the restoration and a one-piece Bailey bridge located alongside for pedestrian crossing. The deck was removed and new sections fabricated to match the bridge’s distorted elliptical shape. New ductile iron ornamental railing sections have also been cast. The project included repainting in its original off-white colour.
Most of Metalock’s work involved tie-rod end caps, 43 of which had cracks and were repaired, and cracked diaphragm rib plates. Additionally, Metalocking was used to repair construction webs and install new corbel sections to replace those that had broken off over the years. Most of the damage to the components that needed repair had been caused by expansion due to corrosion from moisture ingress following the breakdown of joint sealing materials.
Due to the significance of the bridge as an icon of the City, great care and attention was given to the restoration process and to allay the concerns of various heritage groups, as much of the original material as possible was either repaired or refurbished. Only severely damaged and unusable components were remanufactured. The tie-rod end caps, for example could have been replaced with new, but the Metalock process enabled effective repair of the originals, in-situ.
