By Ciaran Woods

THE River Mourne will no longer prove an obstacle to its separated communities, according to the team behind the winning designs for two new pedestrian bridges in the town.

Construction will get underway soon at least one of the new pedestrian and cycle bridges, part of the Strabane 2000 project, which will, according to the designers, "make a mark on the landscape and the architecture of the town."

The decision to award the project to Roughan and O'Donovan comes at the end of an international competition which involved a selection panel as well as members of the public having the opportunity to cast their vote as to which pair of bridges would be chosen from the shortlisted entries.

Joe O'Donovan, founder of Roughan and O'Donavan, is proud that his Dublin-based company has been chosen to carry out such a landmark build.

He said, "We have a huge interest in bridges, and have built up a good reputation for building bridges. In particular, we've an interest in landmark type bridges, and that's why we took such an interest in this competition. We felt that the site was there, and the two bridges are badly needed as the town at present effectively only has one bridge, and the community is separated as a result. The opportunity was there to build something really nice, not just during the day but that would have a special lighting system to make sure it's even more impressive after dark," he said.

With the lighting system in place, and the tall spire coming up from the bridge, it is certainly possible to draw parallells with the Boyne megastructure. Could Strabane be set to have it's own 'Baby Boyne Bridge'?

Joe said, "I suppose that structurally they're built on the same principles, but that's really where the similarities end. There'll not be a lot of what we used for the Boyne Bridge used down here. Footbridges are very light, and that leads to its own problems in ensuring against vibrations and wind induced oscilations, as seen with the Millenium Footbridge in London. For a footbridge, you're slimming everything down as much as possible for aesthetics and making it look as good as we possibly can."

It's clear from simply talking to Joe O'Donovan that he is a man passionate about his work, and who takes great pride in their achievements. He finds a great sense of pride in seeing their projects reach completion, knowing that they're creating a focal point for communities and the wider public.

He said, "The Boyne Bridge is one of the biggest projects we've done, and we also did a very nice bridge for the Luas at Dundrum. There have been others, but probably none as high-profile as those. At the minute, we're doing a nice one over the Erne in County Cavan, and another landmark project in Sligo at the moment. A lot of what we do is for practical uses, getting you across a motorway or whatever, where the cost is more important to the client than the look of it. But to us it's important that it looks as good as possible. It's nice when people remark on how much they like the design of a bridge we've done, ordinary members of the public who can appreciate what you've done. People would have you believe that people don't notice, and if it's an ordinary looking bridge then that's true, but if it looks good then they'll notice."

The design leader is under no illusion as to the impact the bridges will have on Strabane, and is proud that their designs will be the basis for the exciting project for the town. It may not be the biggest project they've ever done, but under the guidance of Joe O'Donovan it will be built with the same pride and attention to detail that has gone into all their previous efforts.

"These bridges are going to have a huge impact on the people of Strabane and on the look of the town. People here will see those bridges, beautiful to look at as well as practical to use, and that's something we take great pride in.

"We're making our mark on the architecture and the landscape of the town, and you just can't quantify that. You see that all over the world, where great landmark bridges are associated with the towns and cities they're in.

"That's why it's great to get the chance to be involved in something like this, and we're privileged that our designs have been chosen. Those two bridges are as important to us as anything we've ever done, and we're looking forward to working on them," he concluded.