Northern Ireland-based precast concrete firm FP McCann has won the Transport Project of the Year Award for its work on the North West Greenway Network and Pennyburn Bridge.

The company scooped the prize in the below £10 million category at this year's Construction Employers Federation awards ceremony.

The project included the securing of the 80 tonne, 63m long and 4m wide Pennyburn foot and cycle bridge into place, which now connects the new 650m shared pedestrian and cyclist Greenway that runs along the banks of the River Foyle with the existing path network in Bay Road Park.

The bridge was fabricated 40 miles from the site, in Rasharkin, Co Antrim, by M Hasson & Sons.

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Due to the sheer size of the bridge, a specialised and costly crane – which was not available on the island of Ireland – was booked months in advance for the project, meaning the programming and coordination of bridge design, approvals, fabrication, factory trial build, site delivery and assembly were all critical aspects to ensure everything was ready by the deadline.

Safe weather conditions were also essential when performing the lift, with the bridge being installed by a LIEBHER LTM 1800D mobile crane (i.e. 1,000t) operating to 90% capacity.

These elements helped contribute to there being zero accidents recorded during the project, which has now created an overall safer environment for the general public due to its separation from traffic, lighting and CCTV.

Balance was achieved between lighting and the environment through a smart LED lighting system to maximise energy efficiency and retain user safety.

The bridge has now already become part of the Waterside Half Marathon route, which took place this September. It was the first time that runners took a route across all four of the city's bridges next to the River Foyle.

The project was a collaborative effort with FP McCann from Derry City & Strabane District Council, McAdam Design, Design ID and M Hassan & Sons Ltd.