Massive conservation operation underway on Cork's famous Shakey Bridge

WORK to dismantle Cork's famous Shakey Bridge has begun.

Engineers working on the €1.7m repair and restoration of the landmark heritage structure today oversaw preparations for the removal of the first section of the near century-old suspension bridge.

The steel cables have been disconnected from the steel deck in the hope that conditions tomorrow will allow for a section of the bridge on the northern side to be lowered onto a barge below.

The barge will then float the removed section to the southern riverbank for transport by truck off-site for repairs and conservation work, including grit-blasting and repainting.

Once the bridge deck has been removed, the bridge towers will be wrapped, repaired and repainted in situ, before the suspension cables are replaced.

And even though new suspension cables are being made for it in Italy, engineers say they hope to retain as much of the bridge's signature wobble as possible.

The project is expected to continue until Easter 2020.

The near 60-metre span Daly's pedestrian bridge, as it's officially known, is a single-span steel suspension bridge over the north channel of the River Lee, linking Sunday's Well to Fitzgerald's Park.

Opened in 1927, it is Cork's only suspension bridge and is Ireland's only surviving pedestrian suspension bridge of its type and age.