2015 – Lagan Weir Footbridge, Belfast, Co. Antrim

Designed to encourage sustainable modes of transport and provide greater access to the heart of the city, the bridge is a sleek and high-tech design with an 8m wide walkway. The bridge is supported on the existing weir buttresses using an innovative strut design that allows it to “float” above the river a few metres away from the Weir. The vertical profile is a continuous curved profile with ramps at a gradient of 1:20 while the horizontal alignment is also curved with a degree of a-symmetry.

The bridge links Belfast city center to the city’s Titanic Quarter, a large-scale waterfront regeneration project. The objective of the weir structure is to keep the level of the river artificially constant, as it is a tidal river, the level of the water varied by up to three metres between high and low tide.