Mizen Head footbridge is set to reopen to the public on St Patrick's Day after extensive repairs were carried out.

The €1.8m contract was jointly funded by Fáilte Ireland, Cork County Council and The Commissioners of Irish Lights.

The contractor for the project was Carillion Irishenco and the bridge design and RPS Consulting Engineers carried out contract supervision.

The new bridge is an exact replica of the existing reinforced concrete structure.

Throughout its 100-year life, the bridge has been subject to extreme weather and environmental conditions. These conditions slowly took their toll and caused serious deterioration of the structure.

In 2005 a temporary footway was installed on the bridge. The lifespan of the temporary footway came to an end in 2009 just in time for the Contract signing for the construction of the new structure.

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The bridge spans over a sea gorge some 47m above sea level. Its original purpose was to provide access for the staff of the Commissioners of Irish Lights to the fog signal station at Mizen Head. It connects the main land to Cloghane Island.

In recent years, the bridge has become a popular tourist attraction as it links the Mizen Visitors' Centre with displays in the original lighthouse buildings on the island.

Since the Signal Station was first opened to the public in 1994, it attracted 50,000 tourists annually.

The original structure was completed in 1909. It is an early example of the use of reinforced concrete as a material and in its day, the 52m span was of record length for reinforced concrete arch construction.

The original bridge designer was Noel Ridley and the Contractor was Alfred Thorne of Westminster.

The 1908 contract price was £1,272. Rope ladders were used to access the cliff face to construct the bridge foundations.

Temporary towers were erected on both sides of the gorge and cables slung between the two towers. The cables were used to winch construction materials into place to form the bridge.

(JG/KMcA)