I see that the new Liffey bridge by Howley Harrington is to cost twice as much as originally thought.

http://images.ireland.com/newspaper/ireland/0499/millenium_bridge.jpg

<A HREF=http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/Ireland/1999/0406/hom22.htm">Article</A>

is there really a need for a new bridge , or better still is there a need for that river?

That there are so few bridges spanning the river the 'North' / 'South' divide in Dublin seems, to me, to be exaserbated. I think that the new bridge, even at double the cost, will go some way towards correcting this. Compared to most of the great rivers that flow through the capitals of Europe the Liffy is a stream. Given this, there is no reason what-so-ever that the Liffy should act as a border zone. Also, given the developments in Smithfield and the HARP project isn't time we started thinking of Dublin more on an East-West axis.

If it only costs double it will be still better value than the last two Liffey bridges built. How much is Dublin Corporation losing by the gross underestimation of traffic density? I find it strange that everyone at the planning tribunal seems to have forgotten the eastlink.

Its great to see that twice the cost means twice the banality. While it may represent cool understated civil architecture in its paired down modern design , it comes across more as apologetic of its presence and a cheap imitation of the wonderufl Ha'penny bridge.

Yes a bridge is essential. It will direct human traffic away from the main croosing points and allow better accessto these areas on the north side being developed.

BUT DOES IT HAVE TO BE SOOO BORING!!

I see they're preparing the site for its construction - there are hoardings on the south bank and a floating crane in position.......

Any idea when this is going to be completed?

Wasn't there a cheaper way to get some new seats for beggars?

Duq

Isnt that a tad negative? The bridge will help open up the areas between Capel Street and Liffey Street. And the Ha'penny bridge is a complete bitch to cross with a pushchair or wheelchair as it is so steep.

Strikes me that the real problem around here is the traffic thundering along the quays. Get rid of that somehow and both banks will knit together considerably better, bridges and all.

I've added more details on the bridge design including several computer generated views of it courtesy of Howley Harrington Architects.

http://www.archeire.com/onsite/millenium_bridge/index.html

The new bridge looks very well - very simple design - deceptively simple I reckon. It looks like the problem of all the steps at the Ha'penny bridge doesnt exis. One question: where do the people go on the north bank. There is no street nearby.

I read somewhere about a development for the north quay, the bridge will channel people through an arch similar to the merchants arch. Could make that part of town fairly interesting. As for the bridge, you don't want it to over power the H'Penny. The detail seems to be good. But I can see fistycuffs with the bottle necks that this board walk will cause as it comes to each bridge.

I assume the walkway will just stop, forcing pedestrians back out onto the footpath before starting again after the bridges.

The metal structure is spoanning the Liffey today......


BTW is the Corpo still going to create a new street on the north bank opposite the bridge?

there she goes.....

http://images.ireland.com/newspaper/ireland/1199/dmd1108.jpg

There was a very good article by Shane O'Toole is yesterday's edition of The Sunday Times about the bridge.

The bridge is going to be a great addition to the city. Must be weird for the architect, knowing that he's making a serious impact on the fabric of the city - river crossings are always important.

Saw the article and the link to archeire!

I read that the architect said that this bridge "must have a conversation with the ha'penny bridge"
What DOES this mean?

If they were too "different" they might start argueing.

Seeing that there are many other bridges that have been built over the last couple of hundred years or morej, I am sure that when the designing of the "older" bridges at that time caused as much fuss if not more as the new Liffey bridge is causing.

Does no one think that with all the wonderful booming building structures going on that to see something wonderfully refreshing as a new bridge develop more astonishing.

Sure, everyone knows how bricks, cemente and precasts are developed into houses, apartments, shoping centres, but to see a bridge being built before your every eyes, I just think that we should look on at this development and say to our families in years to come that we all witnessed the development of this new bridge.

The Millenium Bridge wasn't built before our eyes, it was cast in Carlow and hauled up to dublin on a big old lorry, then the precast, prefabricated, ready-to-go truss was slotted into place

What makes the building of this structure so great when compared with prefabricated, blah, blah, blah and so on and so forth....?

When did architecture become so boring?

One of the most inspiring bridges i have ever
seen , is Future Systems pontoon bridge @ Canary Wharf, London.
This bridge was entirely prefabricated,and also transported to site on a lorry in two pieces and floated into place.The only work that needed to be done on site was the droping of concrete slabs to anchor it.
Just because it was prefabricated doesn`t detract from the beauty to the structure,if anything it adds to it.
And along with many of the other projects(Lords media center, Pembrokshire house) which embrace prefabrication technology, is an architecture that is about as far from boring as you can get!!

Pre-fabrication.
New Inland Revenue, SAGA HQ building and Portcullis House all by Michael Hopkins and Partners. Great architecture.

People, people, I was not poo-pooing prefabrication. I was just trying to explain to the chap above that it "...wasn't built before your every eyes..." [see the sentimental comments above]

Infact I do not really see how the words prefabrication and technology [in this instance only] can be used together in the same sentence. The fitting of the truss was practically neanderthal ... all those lovely little ashcon boys banging away[for hours and hours], trying to coax the truss to 'slip' into the fins on both quays. It was reminiscent of the opening scenes of 2001: A Space Oddyssey [and indeed an episode of the Simpsons].

Technology, I don't think so.

Indeed Mrs Lister, the Future Systems Bridge is an absolutley beautifully structured bridge.

Good Afternoon!

Having seen this type of prefabricated construction going up in London, I eventually coined a term for it: "Bodge-tech". Or as an architect friend explained when I asked him how one of his buildings was going to fit together: "It'll be a lot of fat men hitting it and swearing".

In other words, precision isn't in it. Medieval master masons, with their millimetre-thin joints, were more high-tech than today's steel fabricators and erectors.

Fogive me if i say that maybe its not the fault of the building,or the method. The people involved have lost touch, instead of the expert masterbuilder,the buildings are being put together by the aforementioned " Fat swearing men". And being designed by people who probally care less about the effect on it environs and users.

Hmmm...

I wonder if they've ever even heard of Brunelleschi.

It's sad to think of all the great intellectual struggles and triumphs over the last 1000 or so years - forgotten and replaced with pvc and morons.

Groan...

I think that to state that the bridge designers as morons in perhaps a little unfair...

Take Brunelleschi's loggia to the foundling hospital, base units of 12 etc fantastically well ordered when you study it

Or take the abutments of the bridge for example- both dimensionally different to fit against the quay walls but cast off the same toroidal mould. Less visible maths behind it.

Then there is the truss that without the existance of Oil rig welding technology would not have been possible to fabricate!

All these parts made in Carlow, Banagher, London, Belfast, Cornwall and Dublin came together with a 2mm tolerence on site!

I am sure Brunelleschi, Alberti, Archimedes would have liked to have done that, and got it right first time!!

After looking at the bridge yesterday, I am now of the opinion that those who said it would ruin the Ha'penny Bridge were wrong, very wrong. If anything the bridge is too subtle. Looking at it from the Ha'penny Bridge it just merges with the background.

Oops... there I go sounding too general again! I didn't mean the bridge builders were necessarily morons. If an architect got somebody to draw his design on a computer 600 years ago and then saw the measurements and formulae calculated before his eyes I'm sure he would be delighted.

But then, I don't know anything really abbout modern architectural design processes - I must read up on it.

The bridge is open from today:

From RTE:

Dublin's newest bridge was officially opened today by the Lord Mayor, Councillor Mary Freehill. It is sited between the city's other pedestrian crossing, the Ha'penny Bridge, and Capel Street bridge. The bridge was built at a cost of £1.6 million as part of the Millennium celebrations.

Real Video report

http://www.rte.ie/news/1999/1220/1News/1News5A.ram

I crossed the bridge this morning and have to say I was pleasantly surprised. It offers a wonderfull view of the Ha'penny and O'Connell bridges and seems elegant, clean and natural.
It feels almost flat and is a lot less effort to cross than the Ha'penny. There is a lot more room too.

Actually after crossing it yesterday, I have to say that it is a complete non-event. Its devoid of features while crossing, its banality creating no sense of arrival as one crosses the river. I also thought that the decking feels odd under the feet, feeling neither solid nor re-assuring.

The non slip decking effects my vertigo, so I can't look down when I cross it! Never got it on any other bridge.

Rory W