Dublin Street Lighting
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I note that following their Britannic Majesties departure from our shores Westmoreland Street continues to remain in Stephen Hawking mode…It appears Dublin City Council,the City Manager and in particular the Public Lighting Manager are lifelong fans of the Black-Hole theory….I’d appreciate it somewhat more if they subscribed to the Big-Bang theory instead.
And just to underline the cack-handedness of what purports to be a modern EU Capital City’ s Admintration,the wholesale deforestation of College Green for Mr Barrack H Obama’s speech from the dock,has resulted in the Westmoreland St syndrome spreading to College Green…yes folks stygian blackness from Grafton St to Church lane……mind you it could also be a cunning plan to force the BoI to surrender their Portico at a bit of an oul haircut….I’m all in favour of inviting Fidel Castro to speak next…..I can’t see him making things any worse than this gang of twittery larks have managed to do….Is it any wonder the country is fc’uk`d
Still driving you mad Alek? I am sure you’ve written all those emails and letters and been told its all in hand. The wildly optimistic corner of my mind hopes that since Sierra…sorry DCC are taking so long to put back the lamps on College Green that perhaps we are to see a step up in civic design at this location.
Meanwhile Roads are on the march again. After the astonishing mess that was made of Parnell Square West (cultural hub of north city) the team turn their attention to another high priority route…eh Sackville Place. Not on everyones list to be sure but important none the less. DCC Roads have taken up all the flagstones of their “asset” and replaced with cement, literally smothering the granite kerb stones. Its the ugliest thing you have seen…since the last Roads initiative. Public Realm Strategy anyone?
BTW,I was advised that the overgrown trees on Westmoreland Street will be prunned…in tandem with Metro North works
More repro standards on College Green. It must be said that improved lighting here is very much needed…its very dark at night. Looks like they need to do a bit each Sunday due to traffic volumes….so it may be a while before we see the finished scheme. I hope the take the awful standards at Grafton Street down while they are at it – 1970s industrial park chic.
I’m now reduced to a forlorn hope that some Candlestick Maker can be found to sponsor a few burning rushes along Westmoreland St,or failing that we could appeal to the reps of the late U.S General William Westmoreland for “assistance” in deposing the current City Governance regime ?
@Paul Clerkin wrote:
Graham – another view of those concrete posts on O’Connell Street – from the new Edwin Smith book
Are they the same lights as the one which currently illuminates one of the bus stops on Pearse St.? They look very similar to it.
I’ve started so I’ll finish….eh not quite.
Pearse Street – there are 7 lamps here…and this is but one section of the street. Works took place in 2007.
Bride Street – think this work just recently started but it begs the question: why start another scheme while there are so many unfinished schemes.
Marlborough Street
College GreenBelow is a part of a DCC response made to me when I queried a number of half completed lighting schemes in prominent parts of the city. It might interest others:
The majority of the outstanding work involved will have to be carried out on Sundays as they are main traffic routes. Dublin City Council has plans in place to complete these projects but is however experiencing difficulty in getting them finished for the following reasons:
· Lack of staff due to the embargo on employment
· The difficulty of getting the staff that are available to work every Sunday
· The retirement of some key staff
· The pressure of completing other projects
· The fact that Dublin City Council has to find funding for these projects when it did not expect to have to fund them
Much of the lost time in completing the projects, to date, arose because Dublin City Council was pursuing the contractors involved in the various developments to deliver on their commitment. Unfortunately Dublin City Council now has to accept that these contractors are no longer in a position to deliver the works required and the City Council is left to deal with the problems. Dublin City Council will work on completing these projects this year but realistically some of the projects are unlikely to be completed until next year.
Please see below for information on the individual public lighting schemes you have queried:
College Green
The Historic Paving Stones are currently in storage and will be re-laid within the coming weeks as work at ground level is almost complete. Works to be completed by end September 2012
Pearse Street
For various reasons it has been difficult to close off this project.
At Trinity College Dublin Science Gallery Dublin City Council went in to install the columns on the into town side after the civil contractor had completed his works. Unfortunately Dublin City Council could only install two of the four columns (these are the two columns with no lanterns on them) because some of the ducts that were to have been installed by the contractor could not be found and the electrical supply was not provided. Efforts were made to contact the contractor without success. Temporary lighting was installed on the far side of the street to maintain a good lighting level on the street.
At some of the junctions along Pearse Street some existing columns still have to be removed. These were not removed at the time due to electrical supplies inside the columns being used by other utilities such as cameras, bollards, traffic light controllers, telemetry meter cabinets and so on.
East of the junction with Macken Street on the out of town side again (called Gallery Quay) Dublin City Council was unable to complete works because of missing or damaged ducts. Here an additional pole had to be installed to get an overhead supply to the 4 no. new lights along here. The contractor who carried out the ducting works, Pierse Contracting has since gone into liquidation.
Ringsend Village
Work originally began in Ringsend as part of a rejuvenation project including redesigning pavement layout and the provision of a complete new lighting installation. The responsibility for developing the plan was given to consultant architects and the contract was awarded to a contractor. These improvements were being funded by the DDDA.
The Contractors were responsible for installing the foundation bases, ducts, cable chambers as well as installing the new lighting system. The lighting columns chosen for Ringsend were rejected by the residents meaning the lighting installation could not proceed. Dublin City Council’s Lighting Division inherited several issues from the Contractor (including sourcing of suitable columns manufactured to fit the foundation bases already provided by the contractor).
A concerted effort was made in 2007 to complete the scheme. However, significant problems were encountered. These included: missing foundation bases, loose foundation bolts, misaligned bolts, several foundation bases missing bolts, damaged ducts and cables.
A Civil Contractor was working on correcting these issues with approximately €50,000 spent on correcting the workmanship of the Contractor. Unfortunately due to missing or damaged ducting and foundation bases Dublin City Council have only managed to complete 60% of the project.
Merrion Square
The lamp standards referred to in your e-mail are the inner steel cores of the replica columns. The outer embellishments which are an identical replica of the original lamp standards will be fitted by mid August 2012.
From Dublin Civic Trust
Historic Street Lighting – A Model for Dublin
A successful retrofitting of historic street lights with energy-efficient LEDs has been recently undertaken in the centre of the German city of Leipzig. The innovative project was spearheaded by Braun Lighting Solutions of Berlin and solid-state lighting experts Future Lighting Solutions, with the aim of renovating and making more efficient the host of historic Schinkel gas lamps that have been a feature of the historic city centre of Leipzig since the nineteenth century.
The challenge for the project engineers was to incorporate energy efficient LEDs into the historic lamps in a manner that replicated the appearance of the original clusters of gas mantles inside each lantern head, as well as maintaining the ambient warm glow of gas light that is a defining characteristic of the city centre after nightfall. The initial models for Braun’s trial were the last three original gas lamps in front of the famous St. Thomas Church, the home of Johann Sebastian Bach.
“In Leipzig, the LED technology of the future meets the past of city lights which are more than 150 years old,” said Andre Braun, CEO of Braun Lighting Solutions. “Our approach keeps the traditional form of the lamps but lets them shine in a new light through advanced LED technology. We have been able to deliver on the goals for energy efficiency and environmental protection at the same time as meeting the requirement to preserve a historical artefact.”
By equipping the 360 Schinkel lights around St. Thomas Church with the latest LUXEON® Rebel LEDs, the city can save €20,000 a year in energy costs. The LED lamps consume only 22W, by comparison with the 85W power consumption of the lamps they replace. This 73.3% reduction in the power load also reduces CO2 emissions by 60.8 tonnes per year. Thus, the project is an important contribution to the implementation of urban climate protection goals in Germany.
To achieve the effect of gas lighting, the original parts of the historic lamps were supplemented with a patent-pending technology that mimics the size and arrangement of the previous mantles. The four mantles were replaced by four LED modules covered by satined glass, giving the impression of glowing mantles suspended within the lamps. The difference between the LED lamps and the gas light originals can only be detected on close inspection. An elegant touch was the incorporation of a single 1.2W LED in the roof of each lamp to provide a subtle glow for the opal glass at the top of the unit. Future Lighting Solutions also managed the process of ensuring consistency in colour temperature across all of the hundreds of LEDS used in the sceheme.
A Model for Dublin?
The Trust believes this is the type of project that Dublin should be undertaking as part of its Draft Public Realm Strategy in partnership with the Lighting Department of Dublin City Council. There is a number of locations where such as world-class synergy of heritage conservation and cutting-edge technology should be utilised, including, for example, the re-erection of the original 84 historic oil lamps that once graced the railings of Mountjoy Square, through to reinstating the private lamps of many of the city’s Georgian streets, as has been successfully undertaken in Edinburgh. Dublin’s quays could also benefit from such unified treatment, as well as many of its smaller streets and lanes.The Trust has also advocated the retention of the traditional pillar standards on Grafton Street as part of its proposed repaving plan, and retrofitting them with correctly designed, high quality historic Dublin lantern heads fitted with sparkling LEDs.
In spite of the widespread use of silver Scotch Standard lampposts on the city’s streets – many reproduction – extraordinarily, there are almost no enclaves of historic lighting left anywhere in Dublin. Recent attempts to replace lantern heads on St. Stephen’s Green and the Ha’penny Bridge have resulted in poor, factory-produced imitations that in no way accord with Georgian oil and Victorian gas lighting in the city, while historic lighting even outside public buildings leaves a lot to be desired. There is a sore need for a reassessment of Dublin city centre’s lighting needs and how the city can best present itself through informed lighting design as part of a high quality public realm. One option could be to undertake a short study of historic Dublin lamp types, and incorporate these into the palette of materials currently being composed by Dublin City Council as part of its upcoming Public Realm Strategy.
This is the kind of thing that really bugs me and makes me wonder about all that Grafton Street Quarter stuff I have been hearing so little of…
South King Street
While we’re on the subject of lampposts….
http://www.stoneybutter.com/project/play-stations/7 years after it was started, the ‘new’ public lighting scheme on Pearse Street has finally been completed and the odd bod collection of old stuff removed. And despite earlier grumpy comments from me, the finish of the pavement looks well.
We’re making progress people…
No sign of the same for parts of historic granite on College Green though. That will have to wait until Luas CrossCity.
Hard to friggin believe that its over Three YEARS since I posted about the stygian blackness of Westmoreland Street ,It now WORSE than ever !……DCC’s long game is obviously working as it appear they are waiting on the Electric Tramway Company to light the place up….But perhaps I’m expecting a bit much from DCC….as the arrangements surrounding the Bus Diversions at Merrion Row quite clearly show…..The REAL power base now is obviously the Taxi Driving Fraternity…… :crazy:
we’ve run out of lightbulbs maybe? a few of them aul galvanised steel yokes that were put up in Coolock Industrial Estate should work a treat.
At this point in time,with the Darkness of Winter approaching (NOTE to DCC…Winter evenings = Darkness……Hint-Hint ? ) I would be satisfied with bunches of Burning Oil Soaked Rushes tied with wire and hung from some of the forest of poles used for every friggin purpose EXCEPT facilitating the Public’s safe passage into and out of the Portaloos …..If there are any Photo-Hogs on this forum,how about a Nightime Photo Montage of the West side of Westmoreland Street…the dark side between College Green and Fleet Street….?
So that crappy galvanised post that stood alone at the top of Kenilworth Square North for the last number of years was no accident and has been deemed an acceptable replacement for the entire stretch from the junction with Rathgar Avenue down to the end of Kenilworth Road.
20 or so of the brown aggregate concrete posts line the stretch right down to the end of Kenilworth Road, one of the longest remaining stretches that I am aware of, currently being ripped out and replaced with the lighting equivalent of a shopping trolley.
Gah! Why must we brutalise our streets? Have urban design principles now plummeted to the extent that even the miserable 1940s produced infinitely better street furniture than we’re capable of seven decades on?
Fully agreed that Kenilworth Road has a distinctive grandeur thanks to these stylish concrete posts. RIP on Google Street View : (
Dublin City Council’s ‘Odds n Ends’ Department (Lighting) strikes again. IMO THE worst department within the Council. Continuously wallows in mediocrity.
It looks like the shopping trolley treatment is being extended to take in Kenilworth park, Kenilworth Square North, Kenilworth Road & Grosvenor Road.
Most of the existing posts appear to be in very good condition. No doubt the council will argue that there were wiring difficulties internally, but surely some form of reconditioning was a viable option when set against the cost of a fresh install.
@StephenC wrote:
Dublin City Council’s ‘Odds n Ends’ Department (Lighting) strikes again. IMO THE worst department within the Council. Continuously wallows in mediocrity.
I rather fear,StephenC,that the Public Lighting section merely takes it’s lead from what purports to be Senior Administrators in Civic Offices.
As most compos-mentis users of Dublin as a functioning Capital City,will readily attest to,the recent activities (or lack of same) all point to a Senior Civic Management Team which has taken,lierally,to a windowless fallout shelter,from where it’s “Professionals” issue an ever increasing stream of manic instructions in the manner of May 1945 Berlin.
Just take a mid-evening ramble later on,around The Kildare St/Merrion Row/Stephens Green Luas BXD “Site” for a very significant underlining of whats missing “on the street”….it’s mainly down to a lack of INTEREST !!!! :thumbdown:
So the aforementioned ‘lighting scheme’ from Kenilworth Park – Kenilworth Road – Grosvenor Road is now complete it seems.
What we got is a lovely mish mash, you might even say an eclectic mix.
Entrance to Street
A few new posts, hewn from melted shopping trollies
And, ah lads I couldn’t be arsed with this anymore
Nice one DCC.
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