Over €60,000 being spent on Tang bridge works

An OPW project involving the redevelopment of two bridges in Tang will leave them "built to last for the next 100 years or beyond," according to Minister of State Kevin 'Boxer' Moran.

The local Minister said some €32,000 was being spent at each of the two bridges on a tributary of the River Inny in Tang.

One of bridge upgrades was completed recently, while the other is currently underway and expected to be finished in the next three weeks or so.

"Both of these bridges in Tang were close to collapsing and, as well as that, the OPW has to keep the water channel flowing and the farmers need access to their land," said 'Boxer'.

"We've now widened the bridges. They were around 10 or 11 feet wide, they're now up around 14 or 15 feet wide. And we've re-strengthened them with mass concrete."

He said the work on each of the bridges takes around three to five weeks and that the one which was finished was "a fine-looking job".

"What we do is we divert the river, close the thing down, pump out any water that's there, and shutter it. It's all done by hand, and with mass concrete," said 'Boxer'.

"The good news is that they're built to last for the next 100 years or beyond. The second one which we're (working on) currently was causing a restriction to the flow of water because the culvert was a small bit higher than we'd like, so we're working on that at present.

"We are providing access, to the best of our ability, to the local farmers," he added. "I'd like to thank the Inland Fisheries, the farmers, and the bog users.

"You can carry out work like this on bridges without causing some problems for people, but the farmers and the local residents have been very understanding."