Viewing platform over river shannon unveiled in ballina

 

A magnificent new viewing platform affording panoramic views of the River Shannon and Lower Lough Derg was officially unveiled in Ballina on Thursday last.

As if the weather itself wanted to make the best of itself to hail the auspicious occasion, the sun shone splendidly for the opening of the project – the brainchild of the Ballina Tidy Towns Group and funded by the North Tipperary LEADER Group and Tipperary County Council.

As well as the viewing platform, the works included pavement upgrading and widening and installation of street furniture. The total cost of the works – one of the final projects of the outgoing LEADER programme – came to €200,000.

The  cantilever platform  hangs out over the banks of the Shannon by 11 feet and is elevated 26 feet above the river.

Its construction involved elaborate building methods to support the heavy structure. The deck itself weighs five tonnes. The structure had to be supported by four tonnes of steel mounted on ten 32 foot long foundation piles that had to be drilled down through 30 feet of soil into the sandstone rock below the level of the river bed.

The deck of the viewing platform is capable of supporting about 10 tonnes – equivalent to more than 100 people.

Speaking on behalf of the local Tidy Town Group, Councillor Phyll Bugler, who was Master of Ceremonies at the opening, said the local Tidy Town members were continually seeking out new opportunities to enhance the economic and social attractiveness of their village. 'One such opportunity was the need to enhance the main street and install a viewing platform to maximise the beautiful vistas of the Lough Derg and the lower Shannon area,' she said.

She said the project was a wonderful example of joint partnership between a voluntary group, North Tipperary LEADER Partnership and Tipperary County Council.

Councillor Ger Darcy, the Chairman of the Nenagh Municipal District Council, said it gave him great pleasure to represent both Tipperary County Council and North Tipperary LEADER Partnership, of which he is a board member. “I would like to acknowledge the fantastic resource that the Tidy Towns Group have completed here. Ballina is the envy of every Community in Tipperary with the beautiful setting here on the southern tip of Lough Derg and the lower Shannon area,' said Councillor Darcy. 

Through the North Tipperary LEADER Partnerships Village Enhancement Initiative, the project attracted close to €150,000 of funding under the LEADER Programme with a contribution of €40,000 from Tipperary County Council.

The viewing platform was designed by Nicholas de Jong Associates, Landscape Architect and Urban Designer from Limerick, supported by structural engineering, Michael O’Shea of O’Shea Consulting Engineers, Limerick.