Today I walked along Fitzwilliam Quay from Bath Avenue to Bridge Street.

In February 2011 a 200-year-old section of quay wall beside the bridge at Bridge Street collapsed into the river Dodder. The collapse of around 40 metres of the wing wall on Fitzwilliam Quay happened early in the morning following high tide on the river.

The reconstruction consisted of building approximately 50m of quay wall and tying-in the new masonry to the bridge at the junction of Bridge Street. As 26m of the original quay wall had collapsed into the tidal reaches of the river, it was necessary to remove all remaining elements prior to construction. The services in the location also had to be removed before being replaced with new chambers and ducts. The replacement wall was built of approximately 38m of reinforced concrete, contiguous bored piles and 12m of anchored steel king-post wall.

The contiguous bored piles were 600mm in diameter and varied in length, from 8 to 12 metres. Concrete foundations were installed below both the river bed and the low tide level. A stepped, reinforced concrete capping beam was also installed, in addition to ground anchor restraints for the king-post framework. Hard landscaping on site was a team effort. Specialist skilled tradesmen were engaged to carry out the granite kerbing and limestone paving on the quayside.

Expert stonemasons undertook the limestone random rubble masonry and capping for the quay wall. The bespoke railings were fabricated at our steel fabrication workshop in Newbridge, Co. Kildare. In addition to street furniture and bollards, the project also delivered a newly resurfaced road and public lighting.

The Ringsend Bridge is a bridge over the River Dodder in Dublin. The current bridge was opened to the public in 1812 after the previous structure was destroyed in a flood. In 1623 Richard Morgan first petitioned Dublin Corporation to build a bridge but this was declined. A bridge was built in 1650 and this lasted until 1739 when it was washed away in a flood. The new bridge lasted only until 1782 when another flood destroyed the structure. A replacement bridge was begun in 1786 but was destroyed by yet another flood the following year. A fourth bridge was built in 1789 but this succumbed to a flood in December 1802 when over 3 inches of rain fell in 24 hours. The same storm also destroyed Ormonde Bridge on the nearby River Liffey.

The current structure was begun in 1803 and finally completed in 1812.