Butt Bridge
{{Short description|Bridge over the River Liffey in Ireland}}
{{Distinguish|Butts Bridge|Butt Memorial Bridge}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox bridge
|bridge_name = Butt Bridge
|native_name = Droichead Bhutt
|native_name_lang = Irish
|image = File:Butt Bridge - Dublin, Ireland - August 18, 2017.jpg
|image_size = 240
|alt = Butt Bridge (left foreground) by night
|caption = Butt Bridge, with Loopline Bridge behind it
|other_name =
|crosses = River Liffey
|locale = Dublin, Ireland
|designer = Bindon Blood Stoney (1879)
|preceded = Rosie Hackett Bridge
|followed = Loopline Bridge
|material = Concrete
|length = ~65m
|width = ~20m
|spans =
|begin = 1877
|complete = 1932
|coordinates = {{coord|53.347778|-6.255|display=inline,title}}
}}
The Butt Bridge ({{Irish place name|Droichead na Comhdhála|Congress Bridge}}){{cite web|url = http://www.logainm.ie/en/1167138 | publisher = Logainm.ie | work = Irish Placenames Commission Database | title = Droichead na Comhdhála / Butt Bridge |access-date = 10 December 2016 }} is a road bridge in Dublin, Ireland which spans the River Liffey and joins Georges Quay to Beresford Place and the north quays at Liberty Hall.
History
=1879 swing bridge=
File:Opening of Beresford swing bridge (1879).jpg
File:Custom House and Butt bridge.jpg
The original bridge on this site was a structural steel swing bridge, designed by Bindon Blood Stoney, opened on 26 August 1879 and named after Isaac Butt (who died that year), leader of the Home Rule movement.{{cite report| url= http://www.berthamilton.com/13329.pdf| title= Project history of Dublin's River Liffey bridges| work= Bridge Engineering 156 Issue BE4| publisher= Phillips & Hamilton| access-date= 2008-08-03| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20170812060126/http://www.berthamilton.com/13329.pdf| archive-date= 2017-08-12| url-status= dead}}{{cite web |title=Dictionary of Irish Architects |url=https://www.dia.ie/works/view/33516/building/CO.+DUBLIN%2C+DUBLIN%2C+BUTT+BRIDGE+%28OLD%29 |website=www.dia.ie |access-date=31 January 2025}}
The swing section, made of wrought iron and weighing 200 tons, ran on a series of cast-spoke wheels and was powered by a steam engine, which was housed on a timber pier on the downstream side of the bridge. The swing action allowed boats to pass and berth in the river as far upstream as Carlisle Bridge (now O'Connell Bridge).
The bridge was overshadowed by the construction of the Loopline Bridge between 1889-91.
=1932 concrete bridge=
In 1932, the swing bridge was replaced with a three-span fixed structure of reinforced concrete, but retained its original English name.{{cite book | last = Cox | first = Ronald C | title = Civil Engineering Heritage, Ireland | publisher = Thomas Telford | year = 1998| isbn = 0-7277-2627-7}} The Irish name of the bridge however, Droichead na Comhdhála or "Congress Bridge", derives from the Eucharistic Congress of 1932 which was held in Dublin that year.{{cite web|url = http://www.bridgesofdublin.ie/stories/bridge/butt-bridge | publisher = Dublin City Council | work = Bridges of Dublin | title = Stories about Butt Bridge | access-date = 10 December 2016}}
The central span of the current bridge is formed by two cantilevered sections, with the two approach spans acting as counterweights. This model represented the first use in reinforced concrete of a cantilevered and counterweight construction in either Britain or Ireland.