A COUNTY COUNCIL said they are still trying to figure out why a bridge built to last a century failed after little more than twenty years and had to be quickly removed.

The Millennium Bridge in the historic castle town of Trim, Co Meath had to be shut this summer after an inspection found it was at immediate risk of collapse.

The footbridge over the River Boyne had only been opened in 2001 at a cost of €111,000 with tender documents specifying a structure intended to last for one hundred years.

However, a civil engineering consultant ordered it be closed immediately this summer due to what it said was a “danger of total failure”.

The emergency removal of the bridge ended up costing the taxpayer another €10,000 with a temporary ‘Bailey Bridge’ installed with the assistance of the Defence Forces.

Meath County Council said that design works for a new bridge are currently underway and they cannot say how much a permanent replacement will cost.

Councillors have been told it could be between €500,000 and €600,000 with a cost benefit analysis looking at the best option for replacing it.

A copy of an inspection report, released under FOI, explained how the bridge had scored a maximum five in a safety rating system indicating “ultimate damage”.

It described how key parts of the structure’s support system were rotten and that “similar rotting” was almost certain in joints within the bridge.

The report by civil engineers Mark Murphy Consultancy said: “The bridge is no longer fit for purpose.”

It said the footbridge should be closed immediately to all pedestrian traffic and inquiries made to see if similar issues had occurred with structures built from the same type of timber.

The report said that remedial works – if they had even been feasible – would have cost over €290,000, more than double the bridge’s original price.

According to the report, Meath County Council had carried out maintenance on the structure since it was opened more than twenty years ago.

They said railings had been replaced, the deck nails hammered down, and a tree removed from below it, but that no formal inspection had taken place since it was opened.

The assessment this summer found that railings on the bridge were in poor condition with some vertical rails missing and evidence of rotting wood.

However, it was beneath the structure that “significant localised defects” were discovered with the deck having “visibly settled and twisted” following failure of a joint.

It added: “Catastrophic failure of one of the bottom joints at the north end of the truss has occurred.

“The ends of the truss members i.e. the diagonal, vertical and bottom chords have rotted at the bottom joint location and the joint has ruptured.”

The inspection said future structural failures were considered likely and that the bridge was already “unsafe” and needed to be shut.

It concluded: “Major remedial works or replacement of the bridge superstructure is required.”

In a statement, Meath County Council said the original price of the bridge had been IR£77,912, which equates to around €111,000 in euro, inclusive of VAT.

They said it had been removed in mid-August at a cost of €10,000 with a temporary structure put in place to allow residents and visitors to Trim to cross the River Boyne at the same location.

A statement said: “We had requested hundred years in the tender documentation and the successful provider had confirmed same.

“Investigations are still ongoing on the pieces of the removed structure, to determine the cause of the failure. We cannot yet confirm the cause.”