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How will this impact the Metro North plans to build a massive metro station under the bridge?Concern raised over stability of O'Connell Bridge
An independent expert has been called in to examine one of Ireland’s foremost landmarks over fears it is falling apart because of climate change.Dublin City Council insists the prominent O’Connell Bridge at the foot of the capital’s main thoroughfare is structurally sound after routine repairs last week. But conservationists have spotted a fresh crack in the centuries-old granite crossing over the River Liffey that they say points to serious damage that could result in its collapse. The National Conservation and Heritage Group (NCHG) believe higher tides caused by climate change are eroding the bridge’s structure and may have dangerously weakened its foundations. The group — made up mainly of a handful of high-ranking politicians, including an MEP and the politician brother of former Taoiseach Bertie Ahern — have called in an independent structural engineer. Dr Peter McCabe, who specialises in marine engineering and has worked in the field for 40 years, said he is worried from the reports he has received. “All the indications — from descriptions I’m getting — are that the piers that support the bridge are settling,” he said. "Cracks don’t appear on the superstructure of a pier for no reason. The primary reason is usually subsidence, an undermining of the foundation.”
Dr McCabe said he is travelling from his base in Cork to Dublin tomorrow morning to examine for himself the suspected crevice on the south-west section of the bridge. “Bridges are built on piers and piers are very stable. If they settle — that is to say, subside, even millimetres — cracks develop,” he said. “I’m suspicious that the foundations to these piers have been eroded, in view of the strong flow of the river in recent times.
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