Bridges & Boardwalks
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I expect the planning of the O’Connell Street ones to be better so as they don’t end up with a drainage channel running across their pay points & their awnings tied to benches which were supposed to be for public seating.
According to today’s (27/10) Times Commercial Property “Work on the new Macken Street bridge, which will link the south and north quays, is to begin early in the new year”. Anyone know if this is happening?
A second kiosk has opened for business housing a small art dealer. The actual effect of another stall opening is quite good. I understand a newsagent is next. Also interminable delays on the Boardwalk extension! Anyone know whats holding it all up? Do you think we’ll see repaving of O’Connell Bridge as the next project along here.
As far as I know, a pedestrian bridge is to be installed there – you can see the gap in the boardwalk where it is going.
It’s mentioned here: http://www.dublincity.ie/planning/Draft_ContibutionScheme03.pdf
Here’s some pics of it. Not posting out of admiration though – I’m not exactly the world’s greatest fan of the Boardwalk. I think AT’s initial assessment of it as gimmicky and utilitarian perfectly sums it up.
Whereas it is undoubtedly very pleasant to walk along, and the wood finishes particularly attractive to users at close quarters, on the whole the structure feels temporary and certainly looks it – and the Ormond Quay section with the various slopes and slants looks positively ugly tacked into the quay wall. The grills used for balustrade are equally so.I appreciate it’s very easy to criticise the project without coming up with alternatives or solutions, but I think it nothing short of ridiculous that pedestrians are forced out into a cantilevered ledge over the river in order to allow traffic take precedence along the quays.
Surely the quay environment could have been improved rather than invading in such a manner on the riverscape, or at least we could have waited for the Port Tunnel to open and observe the traffic results.
Eden Quay is especially wide to cater for improvements. And if the pedestrian situation is such that the Boardwalk is practiacally needed , how come there isn’t one on the southern quays?
Perhaps to put things in context, in 15-20 years time when the Boardwalk will probably require reconditioning, will it be refurbished or simply removed?Liffey river taxi gearing up for launch
Lorna Siggins, Marine CorrespondentA river taxi may be running on the Liffey next summer if a plan submitted by the Dublin Docklands Development Authority (DDDA) is approved by Dublin City Council.
The DDDA is seeking permission to build a landing stage at Bachelor’s Walk. The stage would consist of a 20-metre-long floating pontoon with a sliding gate entrance, access platform and gangway for passengers off the boardwalk.
A 54-seater vessel is being built in Sweden for delivery next spring. The authority hopes to run trials on the river for several months. It anticipates that the transport service could be up and floating by June, focusing initially on the tourist market.
The initiative is part of the DDDA’s River Liffey regeneration strategy, which also allows for the introduction of a fast commuter ferry service between the docklands and the coast – initially Dún Laoghaire.
The strategy proposed a cross-river ferry between City Quay and the Irish Financial Services Centre (IFSC) II among a series of projects to revive practical use of the waterway.
It is understood that the DDDA has held discussions with several operators in relation to contracting out operation of the services, and may advertise formally for bidders. Navigation of the river’s 15 bridges, specifically the upper reaches between the Ha’penny Bridge and Heuston Station, is restricted by tides and the low headroom on fixed structures.
The new Millennium Bridge and the Matt Talbot Bridge are particularly problematic at high tide, and the riverbed rises west of the Ha’penny Bridge, which causes a difficulty at low water. The service could eventually run to Heuston Station. Water bus stops may also be located at Tara Street to link with the DART, at the IFSC I and II, Forbes Street, Britain Quay, the Point Theatre and the Alexandra Basin ferry terminal.
© The Irish Times
Good idea?
All entrances to the existing boardwalk were closed last night, with some stonework removed from the quay walls lying by the Millennium Bridge, Any idea if there’s anything other than widening the entrances going on?
There’s no Boardwalk on the southern quays because the sun is more likely to fall on the other side.
I felt at the beginning that it was a gimmicky project but I think it has been the greatest recent success of the City Council, apart from the regeneration of O’Connell Street.
No amount of traffic restriction on the quays would have ever led to a situation where you could have hundreds of people sitting out: reading, drinking coffee as is the case with the Boardwalk on any relatively warm day.
Even when the Port Tunnel is open, I don’t think walking along the outer path of the quays would ever be particularly pleasant because of its narrowness. There were still be plenty of buses and cars whizzing by at 35 miles an hour.@Andrew Duffy wrote:
All entrances to the existing boardwalk were closed last night, with some stonework removed from the quay walls lying by the Millennium Bridge, Any idea if there’s anything other than widening the entrances going on?
I noticed that at the weekend. I was wondering was it the installation of some flood protection barriers superior to the sandbags that have been around for a while now…
Thats it. The new section had them installed (saw them erected one night) and I guess a more formal arrangement is needed now we can expect flooding every year.
I’m pretty sure there’s a pedestrian bridge being built that will go between the quays, rougly in the middle of the new boardwalk extension.
I seen that three of the kiosks are now open for trading, I really don’t think they look any better open than they did closed and they look a bit light on customers as well, unless the plan was that they would only be busy during the summer.
I’m told by Dublin City Council that there was a delay in having the wooden boards delivered because of a shipping strike (???) in December. There’s no issue apart from that and they’re due pretty shortly. Council seem confident it would only be a month or two after that before the extension will be open. Also the work that took place before Xmas re flooding was the construction of so-called Dutch dams (that’s what it sounded like). Somebody else can probably enlighten us on what exactly they do.
There’s a huge ‘dam’ just gone down on Eden Quay recently, wider than any of the openings in the walls on the older Boardwalk.
Here’s the lovely nerw wood going down – the craftmanship in laying the timbers is superb – from the cutting to the joining to the bolting down, very impressive.
Unfortunately it looks like there’s going to be a rather nasty problem with this new stretch of Boardwalk – over the past few days most of the brand new, unfinished handrail has been covered, and I mean covered in seagull droppings 😮
Never seen anything like it – whether it was just a one off or not I don’t know (not exactly an expert on the bowel movements of sea birds) but if this this is going to be the state of affairs along here on a permanent basis I’d gladly stick to Eden Quay, warts and all (yes it’s that bad :))
I pity the the person who has to sand it down for finishing…
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