Ha'penny Bridge

From Includipedia, the inclusionist encyclopedia

Dublin's Ha'penny Bridge
Beyond it, the dome of the eighteenth century Custom House and Liberty Hall, Dublin's tallest building.

The Ha'penny Bridge (Template:Irish place name) (known later for a time as the Penny Ha'penny Bridge) is a pedestrian bridge built in 1816 over the River Liffey in Dublin, Ireland. Originally called the Wellington Bridge (after the Duke of Wellington), the name of the bridge changed to Liffey Bridge, its official name to this day. It is still commonly known as the Ha'penny Bridge. The toll itself was dropped in 1919; before this there were turnstiles either end of it.

Before the Ha'penny Bridge had been built there were seven ferries that operated from one side of the Liffey by William Walsh. The ferries were in a bad condition and he was told that he had to either fix the ferries or build a bridge. Walsh chose the latter option and was granted the right to extract a ha'penny toll from anyone crossing it for 100 years.^{[citation needed]}

The bridge was originally made of cast-iron. From 2001 to 2003 the bridge was closed for repair and renovations, and was reopened sporting a new white colour, and a resupported structure containing as many of the old components of the bridge as possible. The repair work was carried out by Harland and Wolff, makers of the RMS Titanic.