Laois boy rebuilds infamous Portlaoise bridge from Lego

Close up of Aidan Deegan O'Keeffe's Blue Bridge.

placeholder image — Close up of Aidan Deegan O'Keeffe's Blue Bridge.

The Blue Bridge in Portlaoise has been recreated by a ten year old

A famous Laois bridge that was removed because it was rarely used, has been recreated in Lego by a local boy.

Aidan Deegan O'Keeffe, aged 10, built a cute replica of the Portlaoise Blue Bridge, for a school project.

A fourth class pupil at Rath National School in Ballybrittas, his class were given the engineering challenge of building a famous bridge that could hold the weight of a bottle of water.

Aidan with his bridge complete with pedestrians, motorists, flowers and proud Laois lettering.

His proud mam Jen told the Leinster Express / Laois Live about it.

"He wanted the London Bridge at first but then I suggested the infamous Blue Bridge cause it’d be far easier. It’s for his 4th Class project on famous bridges. Because it’s local, he and his classmates can relate to it.

"Lego was the strongest option we could think of to hold a bottle of water without breaking.

"he loves his Lego and is a big fan of Sean O’Flynn who plays for the Laois Senior football team," she added.

The Blue Bridge had existed for just over 30 years.

The blue bridge during its demolition in August 2011.

The painted steel bridge was built in the late 1980’s as part of the original planning for Laois Shopping Centre. It was designed to continue into the carpark of the shopping centre but this was never done, and it remained largely unused while becoming a landmark for directions.

Described as a "hideous blue elephant" by Laois TD Charlie Flanagan, it was cut up for scrap metal in August 2011, as a planning condition set by Laois County Council for the refurbishment of Laois Shopping Centre by its owners.

Cllr Willie Aird had wanted it to remain, arguing "I don't think the bridge is doing any harm to anyone". Labour councillor Noel Tuohy later described its removal as “vandalism”.