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Queen's Bridge to avoid river flow turbulences, which may have affected the existing bridge's foundations. A tunnel was also considered but was rejected for cost reasons. Over the next few years, the proposals were expanded into a larger programme of works, known as the "Lagan bridge scheme", which also included a large gyratory and one-way system to connect the bridges to the
Sydenham Bypass (necessitating the demolition of 145 houses at Bridge End), two flyovers and seven pedestrian subways.
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In March 1963, the total cost of the scheme was estimated at £3 million, however by the time of completion this had risen to £4 million. In August, the construction contract was awarded to
Charles Brand and Son Ltd for £3,749,213 1s. 5d. Soon construction began with the first pile driven in October.
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The concept of a new bridge over the Lagan was first officially discussed in August 1959 within the
Belfast Corporation Improvement Committee, with the purpose of it being to alleviate the traffic bottlenecks at the current city centre bridges. It was decided that the bridge would be placed beside
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The decision on the name of the bridge in
February 1966 proved controversial. The Unionist Party group in Belfast Corporation initially voted by 20 votes to 18 for the name Carson Bridge, after the former leader of their party, with the alternative being Somme Bridge. However, the Governor of
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on 4 July, however their visit was marred by both a concrete block being dropped on their car from a height and a bottle being thrown at it as they made their way through the city centre.
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The demolitions at Bridge End were completed in
January 1965 and by December of the same year, most of the roadworks were nearing completion.
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The Bridge opened to traffic, along with the other elements of the scheme, on Sunday 3 April 1966. It was then officially opened by the
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took credit for the name, although it had earlier been reported that it was believed to be the
Governor's idea.
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56:, Northern Ireland, which opened in 1966.
196:"The bottleneck will be opened on Sunday"
345:"Meeting the Queen in Northern Ireland"
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161:"Diary of a four million pound scheme"
37:Queen Elizabeth Bridge Belfast Plaque
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137:List of bridges over the River Lagan
29:Queen Elizabeth bridge, October 2009
443:Buildings and structures in Belfast
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256:"It's the Queen Elizabeth Bridge"
170:. 30 March 1966. pp. 14–16
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325:. 30 December 1966. p. 8
295:. 16 February 1966. p. 1
265:. 15 February 1966. p. 1
235:. 22 December 1965. p. 5
226:"Roads to Lagan Bridge ready"
349:BBC NI - Your Place and Mine
438:Bridges in Northern Ireland
205:. 30 March 1966. p. 13
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316:"Ulster's year of crises"
414:54.6002389°N 5.9204944°W
380:. 5 July 1966. p. 1
16:Not to be confused with
286:"Queen's name accepted"
18:Queen's Bridge, Belfast
419:54.6002389; -5.9204944
83:Queen Elizabeth Bridge
73:Next bridge downstream
42:Queen Elizabeth Bridge
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371:"Treason Act charges"
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65:Next bridge upstream
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108:Northern Ireland,
79:Queen's Bridge
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377:Belfast Telegraph
322:Belfast Telegraph
292:Belfast Telegraph
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405:5°55′13.78″W
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354:29 November
69:River Lagan
50:River Lagan
432:Categories
143:References
87:Lagan Weir
48:over the
131:See also
95:History
54:Belfast
384:7 June
329:7 June
299:7 June
269:7 June
239:7 June
209:7 June
174:7 June
46:bridge
121:Queen
44:is a
386:2023
356:2009
331:2023
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123:and
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Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
