Peace Bridge, Londonderry

Deputy First Minister, Martin McGuinness, and Social Development Minister, Margaret Ritchie, today announced the commencement of construction of Derry ~ Londonderry’s new Peace Bridge which will link the former military base at Ebrington to the Guildhall.

Speaking at a special ceremony to mark the start of work on the bridge Deputy First Minister, Martin McGuinness said:

“It is my sincere hope that the new bridge will be a catalyst for change and will help transform this city and the local community in the widest sense. It represents a real opportunity to improve relationships by transcending the physical divide of the river which, for so long, has been viewed as a boundary between the Waterside and the city side”.

The third bridge across the River Foyle, the Peace Bridge has been given £13,343,476 from the European Union’s PEACE III Programme managed by the Special EU Programmes Body (SEUPB). The programme’s theme of Creating Shared Public Space aims to support large scale infrastructure developments that will tackle problems of separated communities by creating genuine new shared space or transforming contested space. The 315m long s-shaped pedestrian and cycle Peace Bridge will run from the Foyle Embankment, adjacent to the Guildhall Square, to the former Parade Ground in the former Ebrington Barracks.

The project team for the design and construction of the Peace Bridge is McAdam Design (Project Managers) Graham (Main Contractor), Wilkinson Eyre (Architect), Faber Maunsell (Structural Engineers) and Rowecord (Steelwork Fabrication).