Boyne River Bridge, Cable-stayed bridge in County Meath, Ireland.
The Mary McAleese Boyne Valley Bridge is a cable-stayed road bridge carrying the M1 motorway across the River Boyne 3 km west of Drogheda, on the Meath–Louth county boundary. Its single tall pylon stands on the elevated south bank, with cable stays fanning out to support the deck, leaving the river and Yellow Island below free of supports.
Construction began in May 2000 and the bridge opened on 9 June 2003, built by Cleveland Bridge & Engineering Company as part of the M1 motorway. It was the longest cable-stayed bridge in Ireland until the River Suir Bridge opened on 19 October 2009. In 2006 it received the Excellence Award (Civil) from the Association of Consulting Engineers of Ireland.
The bridge carries the official name Mary McAleese Boyne Valley Bridge, visible on signs at the crossing. The name honors a former Irish president known for her work toward reconciliation between Ireland and Northern Ireland.
The bridge carries motorway traffic and is not designed for pedestrian access, so the best views come from the riverbanks below. Paths along the river offer a clear angle to see the tower and cables from a short distance.
This crossing was the first cable-stayed bridge in the world built using incremental launching, a method where the deck is pushed forward in sections rather than lifted into place. This allowed workers to assemble most of the structure from the riverbank without blocking the river below.
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