Plans have been submitted to erect a new sculpture at Belfast’s Grand Central Station using material reclaimed from the dismantled Boyne Bridge.
The freestanding dark column style artwork is expected to rise around nine metres above Saltwater Square – the new public area currently under construction outside the major transport hub.
According to documents submitted by the Northern Ireland Transport Holding Company, i.e. Translink, the new sculpture will include steel elements reclaimed from the former Boyne Bridge.
The bridge was dismantled earlier this year to facilitate the massive regeneration project around the new Grand Central Station, known as Weavers Cross.
The removal of the bridge, which dates back to 1860 and was later rebuilt in 1936, was opposed by a residents group in the neighbouring Sandy Row area and the Ulster Architectural Heritage Society (UAHS).
Dark steel beams exposed during the dismantling of Boyne Bridge. PICTURE: MAL McCANN
Translink previously stated that parts of Boyne Bridge would be incorporated into Saltwater Square.
The transport body said a programme of engagement was undertaken in May and June this year, with “key stakeholders”, around the new art piece.
It said the themes for the art had been drawn from previous consultations involving “nearly 100 one-to-one interviews, focus groups and community based activities”.
It included an event in Sandy Row Community Centre on June 18.
It’s understood the concept for the new sculpture, labelled ‘legacy art piece’ in the planning documents, was finalised by an advisory panel drawn by Translink from leaders in the north’s arts, culture and heritage sectors, who met at the new Golden Thread Gallery in Belfast on June 12 2025.
Construction work is continuing on Durham Street, outside Grand Central Station. PICTURE : BRIAN LINCOLN
According to a report submitted with the new planning application: “The panel responded positively to the concept, themes and CAD [computer-aided design] images of the design, and particularly supported the inclusion of sections from the Boyne Bridge in the artwork.
“They agreed that the proposed public artwork would be a point of interest sympathetically highlighting the industrial heritage of the area, while pointing to the past, present and future of the city.”
Saltwater Square, which faces onto Durham Street, is due to reopen to traffic before the end of this year, becoming the new drop-off point for taxis and other vehicles at Grand Central Station.
Belfast City Council has already agreed to rename a section of Durham Street ‘Boyne Bridge Place’.
The wider public realm plans for Saltwater Square, which have been approved, include an extensive paved area with space for planting beds and trees.
The design visual for Translink’s new legacy art piece outside Grand Central Station. (Ryan)
Seating areas, kiosks and a ‘dog spend’, otherwise known as a dog toilet, also feature in the plans.
Space at the centre of Saltwater Square has been pencilled in for a new ‘cultural historical sculpture’.
The updated plans submitted by the NITHC also provide for “ground plane interpretation lighting, and heritage lighting columns”.