Full of suspense: reengineering the shake into Cork's Shakey Bridge sparked global interest

A live online discussion hosted by Engineers Ireland on the bridge's history and refurbishment attracted a record attendance

Paul O'Callaghan and John Gamble, both from RPS Consulting Engineers, who worked on the Shakey Bridge, try it out after it reopened to the public in December 2020. Picture: Eddie O'Hare

The past year and more of the global pandemic was ‘no great shakes’ on just about every front bar perhaps one, in Cork City, when crafty engineers managed to get the shake back into the reinstated 'Shakey Bridge'.

Getting the famous city landmark suspension pedestrian bridge back in perfect health after removal for refurbishment, and getting hundreds globally taking part in an online talk and presentation on how the ‘shake’ was reengineered into it, was a highlight of 2020, says Ronan Keane, outgoing chair of Cork Region of Engineers Ireland.

The last section of the Shakey Bridge being  installed in March 2020 linking the Mardyke and Sundays Well in Cork. Picture: Dan Linehan

Among a raft of Engineers Ireland online events was a presentation on the history and refurbishment of Cork's Daly’s Bridge, aka the Shakey Bridge, between the Mardyke and Sunday’s Well.

A one hour, 38 minute account featuring historian Kieran McCarthy and Michael Minehane, RPS Consulting Engineers, is available on YouTube

Now at about 1,500 views, the video was watched live by 440 people after the bridge was repositioned in March 2020 as the first Covid-19 lockdown loomed.

'Celebrating 80 years' 

According to Mr Keane, the event  “helped celebrate 80 years of the region, with the original construction of the bridge in 1927 being supervised by our founding chairman, SW Farrington”.

Among the record 440 attendees for the live discussion were the families of James Daly, the local businessman who funded the original construction, and of SW Farrington, as well as international attendees from the UK, US, Bahrain, Canada, Egypt, India, Singapore, and Spain, including a Shanakiel-born native who got up at 5am in Australia to have a shake-down on memory lane.

The removal of a section of Daly’s Bridge at the Mardyke, Cork known locally as the Shakey Bridge in February 2019 to allow for restoration work. Picture: Dan Linehan

Coming in as chair of the Cork Region now is Valerie Fenton, senior executive engineer, Development Management, Cork City Council.

As just the third woman chairperson in the 80-year history of the Cork Region, Ms Fenton says she is looking forward to promoting greater visibility of female engineers in all their activities during her tenure.