IN Brief:
- PUNCH Consulting Engineers has been appointed by Evara Developments to develop designs and tender documents.
- The works comprise about 790m of new road, a 170m five-span River Liffey bridge, and associated infrastructure.
- Tender documents are targeted for the end of 2026, ahead of a possible 2027 construction start.
PUNCH Consulting Engineers, part of COWI, has been appointed by Evara Developments to progress the Newbridge South Outer Orbital Road through detailed design and tender preparation. The County Kildare scheme combines a new road with a River Liffey bridge, walking and cycling routes, utility works, and a planned riverside park. Kildare County Council has secured €20m in government Housing Infrastructure Investment Funding for the scheme.
The planned route comprises approximately 790 metres of single carriageway distributor road and a 170-metre bridge across five spans. Connecting Great Connell with Kilbelin, the new crossing will open a route between areas of Newbridge where further residential construction is planned. Access to the development lands, the bridge approaches, and the local road network are therefore being addressed within the same infrastructure package.
PUNCH previously carried out civil and structural engineering work that supported the project through the planning process, with permission granted by Kildare County Council in 2023. Its latest appointment carries the project into the more detailed stage needed to prepare tender documentation and define the design to be taken forward for construction. The team is targeting issue of tender documents before the end of 2026, with construction anticipated to start in 2027.
The bridge is the principal structural element in a wider package that also includes junction improvements, drainage, utility work, and active travel routes. Planning a crossing of this scale involves coordinating the bridge’s geometry and approach levels with the alignment of the road on either bank. The adjoining junctions and drainage measures must in turn accommodate the revised movement patterns, rather than being designed as separate pieces of infrastructure after the bridge alignment is settled.
Tim Murnane, managing director at PUNCH Consulting Engineers, said: “We’re very pleased to continue our work on this important project. It is a complex scheme, bringing together a major new River Liffey crossing with road, drainage, active travel and environmental infrastructure. Getting that integration right will be key to delivering a scheme that works for Newbridge and supports the development planned around it.”
The public realm element includes a proposed 9.2-hectare River Park, with recreational facilities, biodiversity enhancements, and sustainable water management features. These works sit alongside the main transport corridor, requiring the design team to bring together road engineering and landscape requirements over the same geographical area. The proposed walking and cycling facilities also need to provide a continuous route through the new infrastructure rather than being restricted to the bridge itself.
Evara Developments is progressing the scheme in partnership with Kildare County Council, linking the road investment to future residential development and wider local transport provision. The €20m Housing Infrastructure Investment Funding allocation supports that infrastructure, while the eventual construction contract value will emerge through tendering. Responsibility for coordinating the road, bridge, park, and active travel components remains central to the detailed design commission.
PUNCH’s detailed design work follows planning permission granted by Kildare County Council in 2023. The tender documents will need to define the geometry of the road and crossing, drainage, junction connections, utilities, and the interfaces with the River Park sufficiently for contractors to price and programme the works. Construction procurement will follow that design development, with the tender documentation targeted for issue before the end of 2026.
The river crossing will also need to be coordinated with drainage, utilities, and the proposed riverside public space on the adjoining land. The 9.2-hectare park’s sustainable water management and biodiversity measures form part of the project package alongside the roads and cycling routes. PUNCH’s current appointment brings those different design elements towards a single tender-stage scheme.
The project is among PUNCH’s first major infrastructure developments to be reported since COWI acquired the Irish consultancy in June 2026. Eva MacInnes, senior vice president at COWI, said: “There is a significant pipeline of infrastructure investment ahead in Ireland and projects like this show the scale of the opportunity.” The Newbridge appointment gives the combined business a current Irish roads and bridge scheme extending beyond the planning phase.
Construction is anticipated to start during 2027, with completion targeted for the fourth quarter of 2028. The programme depends on the completion of detailed design, tendering, and appointment of a works contractor. The immediate output from PUNCH’s commission is the tender-stage design for the distributor road, the River Liffey crossing, and the supporting works that will enable the next stage of the Newbridge project.
