Portumna

Portumna (Port Omna in Irish - meaning 'the landing place of the oak') is a town in the South-East of County Galway, Ireland, on the border with County Tipperary. The town is located to the West of the point where the River Shannon enters Lough Derg. This historic crossing point over the River Shannon between counties Tipperary and Galway has a long history of bridges and ferry crossings.

Portumna Bridge

Portumna is served with a five-span road bridge over the Shannon. This was designed by C. E. Stanier of London, and completed in 1911, with a central section resting on Hayes's Island which divides the river into two channels. The steel structure of the main bridge and pivotting swing bridge over the navigation channel are of technical and engineering interest, and it is the largest early-twentieth century swivel bridge in Europe.^{[citation needed]}. The opening section was replaced in October 2008.^[1] The Shannon at this point consists of two channels divided by Hayes Island, the one on the North Tipperary side being about 79 m (260 ft) wide, and that on the Galway side being about 73 m (240 ft) wide. Each channel is spanned by three pairs of mild-steel plate girders, either 24 m (80 ft) or 27 m (90 ft) in length, resting on 3 m (9 ft) diameter concrete-filled cast-iron cylinders. Source: Wikipedia