Bord Pleanala approves Trim's Millennium Bridge plans

Plans for a new bridge to replace the Millennium Bridge in Trim have been given the green light by An Bord Pleanala.

While the ill-fated Millennium bridge was a wooden structure, the new design will be made of steel giving it a much longer lifespan. With planning now in place, the next step will be the tender process with Meath County Council confirming that it intends to put project out to tender in the second quarter of this year.

"Once the tenders have been received and accessed, it is envisioned that works could then commence as soon as possible," a spokesperson said. The bridge is to be funded from the council's own resources and is included in the 2024-2027 Capital plan.

As a Millennium project, the then Trim Town Council erected a footbridge providing access from the castle to the Porchfields in 2001. However, just two decades later, it was condemned after the structure failed and it had to be removed. The Irish army stepped in to provide a temporary bailey bridge until a new structure is in place to maintain the important link over the Boyne.

The new bridge will be a 30m span steel truss footbridge which is slim in appearance and the approach embankments will be regraded on both sides of the river to accommodate the new structure.

As it is in a sensitive environmental area, the plans had to go Bord Pleanala for approval and after considering the application and the Natura Impact Statement that accompanied it, the Board was satisfied that that proposed development would not adversely affect the integrity of the European Sites of the Rvier Boyne and River Blackwater Special Area of Conservation and Special Protection area.

The next step will be to prepared the tender documentation and then put the project out to tender with the council intending for this to happen in the second quarter of this year and then to proceed to construction as soon as possible.