Work begins on Pinkeen Stream bridge

Cllr Tracey O'Dwyer at the beginning of the work.

Preparatory work began this morning for the construction of a pedestrian bridge over Pinkeen Stream, writes Brian Byrne.

The long-sought facility is being sponsored by HES Civil, a Mullingar based engineering company, with Kildare County Council taking responsibility for the approach works and appropriate traffic calming measures. The sponsorship was negotiated by local councillor Tracey O'Dwyer, who recently made a symbolic first cut at the stream bank. 

The bridge will make a major difference to the children and adults of Cnoc na Greine and Castlemartin estates who currently make many hundreds of crossings of the stream every day on a makeshift and dangerous traverse of the waterway.

The bridge construction involves a pre-cast concrete box section being placed across the stream. The location was decided in conjunction with KCC engineers, chosen both to best suit the needs of those using the bridge as well as making the least impact on the mature trees along the area. KCA workers yesterday moved a young oak tree to another location to make way for the work.

KCA replanting a young oak to make way for the bridge.

The matter of a bridge has been raised at Council level since at least 2015. The initial design work by the Council was funded in 2020 from LPT funds allocated to Cllr O’Dwyer. Council officials have expressed their appreciation for the involvement of HES, saying the authority wouldn't have been in a position to fund the bridge at this time.

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