Loop Line Bridge – specifically the ads…

where do you start though?

Count me in fjp. Lets make a list of people to write to and then divide it up and see where we get. I guess we should just start by writing to CIE and the DDDA and DubCC asking what plans they have for improving the appearance of the bridge and take it from there. Is there any society or body interested in Victorian industrial architecture?

I would imagine CIE Holding own the bridge… or rather maintain it on behalf of their one shareholder, the Minister for Transport, who controls that share in the interests of the company’s owner the State! Anyway…count me in too. Shall we include the Amiens Street and Talbot Street sections as well

Maybe those behind the design of the new Tara Street station should tackle the loopline bridge aswell. The obvious problem with doing anything with the bridge is the interuption to this critical transport route. If, however, the proposed new dart line further down the river goes ahead (ddda plans), couldnt something serious then be done with the loopline bridge. ie Remove it or replace it

I don’t see any real reason to replace the bridge as it is now – it got its own character and particular function and i especially think it shouldn;t be replaced just becuase its not new or fashionable i.e. i’d thnik it’d be even more boring to replace it with another (modern/ fasionable) white, concrete or metal – cable-stay or not bridge – a la ‘LUAS’ bridge, either of the calatrava bridges, the motor way one up in Drogheda and others around Europe etc etc.
As for removing the signs – in a peverse way i kind of like them ‘changing with the city’!? And as they have been existing advertsing structures for years i seriously dougt anybody other than CIE can remove them. Seeing that the govt. has always made them impoverished and play second fiddle to roads i wouldn’t want to deny them a handy money earner.

It’s an awful looking thing is’nt it ……..I used to give it credit as an example of Victorian railway engineering……but it is mediocre, purely functional and visually awful. I’m not going on about not being able to see the Custom House that shell of a building because of the obtrusiveness of the bridge but because the bridge is just bloody awful in itself as it spans the Liffey. A makeover is required ……aka wallpaper, something that will benefit the views from O’Connell bridge, an arch stretching into the sky or something, rather than that drab horizontal featueless feature. It is now nearly 2003 AD not quaint dear auld imperial Dublin.

Should we call Christo?

…na…… Calatrava

Remove the ads, they’re tacky. I’m all for adverts….neon signs and the lot in a city scape, adds life and colour….but this bridge as bad as it is, is done no justice either by the cluttered effect hoardings. Remove them and remodel the bridge………..and light up the new bridge’s profile/outline as like what has been done abroad in other cities. Pure wallpaper, but effective and far more aesthetic.

Don’t these look good ………could be Dublin, if planners, thinkers, developers and politicians got their fingers out.

….great eh!

No way should the ads remain, all ads are naff regardless of their scale or whereabouts, The painting of the bridge alone, in a light grey/ white colour, or the same off-white as the
Ha’ penny bridge would make for a major improvement and lessen its impact substantially. Its illumination at nightime would make for a dramatic feature, in what is a very dark and dingy area after 5 o’ clock, around Tara Street Station. However white light is needed, none of that crappy orange light that destroys every other building after dark, and illumination of the whole structure is needed with large beams of light, no miserable little uplighters lined along its base, half of which will be blown before the electrician gets off his ladder.

This bridge was overlooked was’nt it when all the bridges were supposedly illuminated as part of the Millennnium celebrations 2 years ago. What a disasterous and unsuccessful project…..moreso a waste of taxpayers and European money.
To think that this bridge has the most impact on the city too.

It was very unsucessful. I’ve never come across anything more tacky than the use of gaudy green light to illuminate the arches and piers, and orange light for the balustrades. O’ Connell Bridge has been destroyed with cabling, connection boxes, brackets and clips. Are we supposed to see the cut stone features but not notice the crap tacked onto bridge? Look at the state of it the next time you pass. All of the city’s bridges should be lit in pure brilliant white light from the quay walls, and the balustrades lit with those discrete white strip lights, instead of the current orange. Dublin & the Liffey is very compact & intimate, with many bridges. Imagine how spectacular it could be at night, esp enhanced with lanterns at regular intervals the whole way along the quaysides, from the Custom House to James’s Gate, like along the Thames in London.

One way, get the government to gave funds to Dublin City Council to buy the ad space from CIE and then leave it blank. I think it generates areound 300k per year.

As far as I know the ads predate ’63 so planning permission would not have been saught.

If it was proposed to change or replace them I would imagine it would be subject to planning.

Not much of an incentive.

Considering the fashionabilty of resurrecting old threads, thought I might as well for this picture I found. Never seen it before but it was taken just before the erection of the Loop Line Bridge between 1882-89 or so.
See how the whole city centre opens up without the bridge, and the magnificent view of the Custom House, it becomes part of the city again. I’ve heard people comment before about how there was only a paltry view of it but I think this proves to the contrary, esp if you consider the view from the middle of O’Cll Bridge, or better still from the southern quays along here.

Looking at the view this morning, it’s really surprising how much of the Docklands and the remainder of the Liffey can be seen as it goes out to sea. You can imagine the view with the few glimpses of the area through the bridge and piers. The removal of this bridge would have the single biggest impact on the city centre since the construction of Liberty Hall, only this time in a constructive way.

The lack of clutter is refreshing,

and as Dublin’s Docklands start to go up one must ask can we afford the loopline advertising hoarding?

This bridge simply needs remodelling to enhance the environment and vistas……Ok, it functions grand but we need the dress designers in to tart it up.

The Loop Line bridge is a similar structure to the Hungerford Railway bridge across the Thames in London. A design competition was set by the cross river partnership in 1996 to aestethically update the hungerford bridge & include pedestrian assess across the river.
The winning entry made a huge improvement

something similar could work for the Loop-Line

Idea – Remove Adverts and paint white – the Railway Bridge in Athlone is really nice as white – Loopline would look much better and unobtrusive.

That is a good photo Graham, and yes I agree with you that the view would have been great. I thought as part of the Tara Street station office development the loop line was to be changed?

Originally posted by LGL
The Loop Line bridge is a similar structure to the Hungerford Railway bridge across the Thames in London. A design competition was set by the cross river partnership in 1996 to aestethically update the hungerford bridge & include pedestrian assess across the river.
The winning entry made a huge improvement

something similar could work for the Loop-Line

Not so long ago there was a competition for the replacement of the Loop Line bridge. I have no idea where it went but there was a winning scheme.

I remember seeing an image – think it resembled the pedestrian overpass on Westland Row.

regarding LGL’s post, the hungerford bridge improvement didn’t alter the original bridge, it added the rather cool new pedestrian walkways. Why would pedestrians want to use the loopline? I guess the view would be good but where would you get down?

null

That pre-1891 picture is good alright. I’ve used it too as a comparison with the present-day view of the same scene (pic in next post) to tryn get some action on the replacement bridge project (which was by the Institute of Engineers Ireland).

“Advertising to Loop Line Bridge
Letters from the public appearing in national dailies indicate the unpopularity of the advertising billboards that adorn the Loop Line rail bridge (illustration 92, below). The project for the replacement of the 1890s bridge with a modern, transparent bridge (as featured by Frank McDonald in The Irish Times of May 21, 1998) and consequent removal of advertising would constitute a huge urban design and visual amenity improvement for the city centre.”

The recent scheme was similar to the Trinity bridge, there’s a pic of it to the back of The Construction of Dublin.
Don’t know what happened to the plan.

Obviously the Loop Line will never be removed unless as part of a greater transport or underground rail plan for the city, but considering anything like that would be at least 10 years away, it is well worth upgrading the bridge now, regardless of whether it will be affected. Painting it white would make such a difference, combined with the removal of the signs. The lattice-work is actually quite attractive, were it visible it could make a contribution to the area.
The only possible problem with white is the streaks of sooty dirt that may flow down the sides from the tracks – one need only look at the filth of the inside of the side walls.

The best option by far though would be to remove it – it’s interesting that everyone knows the views of the Liffey facing west with the Ha’penny etc, but no one even bothers looking east because of the Loop Line. It divides the city in two, even moreso now with the Docklands development. The contribution a couple of so-called landmark buildings could make to city centre when viewed from there would be huge, let alone the important aspect of integrating the Docklands into the city at large, helping to eliminate the feeling of it being a private outcrop for business types.

The removal of the Loop Line itself would also restore two other views in the city, the view of the Custom House from Gardiner Street, and the other being where the railway shoots itself in the foot, the view of Connolly from Talbot St and Nth Earl St.

The latter would also restore the view from Connolly to the Pillar, now Spire, which is the longest axial view to the Spire.

I agree it’ll probably be a while before the Liffey bit of the Loop Line is considered for replacement with a more see-thru bridge, and complete removal of the line I can’t see ever happening, so the best thing for now would be to have the advertisements removed and paint the latticework off-white. It would be fairly lookable-at then.

It’s such a pity though. In the pre-1891 photo you can really see Dublin’s Venetian quality; a sweep of grand architecture by the water. Now the Custom House is just an isolated pretty building on a pounding traffic island.

there is no point in replacing the bridge, removing it is another matter and an impractical one at that, but the loop line bridge itself is great, big clunky victorian cast iron.

following up on notjim’s post

A high level pedestrian link along the loopline (similar in style to the Hungerford idea) would allow pedestrians easy acess from tara street station (hign level) across the liffey twords the IFSC without having to interact with the traffic below.

The volume of pedestrian traffic in the tara street area is high & overloads the current foorpath arrangements along the quays.

By the way I realise Conolloy station serves the IFSC.

Originally posted by LGL

A high level pedestrian link along the loopline (similar in style to the Hungerford idea) would allow pedestrians easy acess from tara street station (hign level) across the liffey twords the IFSC without having to interact with the traffic below.

The volume of pedestrian traffic in the tara street area is high & overloads the current foorpath arrangements along the quays.

By the way I realise Conolloy station serves the IFSC.

I think you have a point about the footpaths being a bit overloaded, but the solution would propably be to widen them (if possible). I wouldn’t think that a pedestrian addition to the loop line bridge would do too much, as I think most people who use Tara Street Station are coming from the south quays or else from the O’Connell Street area and have crossed over at either O’Connell Street or else Butt Bridge. Those coming from the IFSC would probably use The Talbot Bridge. Also, I would assume that the Council would prefer to maintain pedestrians using the streets of the city, and reduce vehicle traffic rather than vice-versa.

if there was access from the street as well as from the station, it would get you across two busy roads and, if it would have spectacular views. the big difficulty would be building it with wheel chair access from the street.

I wouldnt see any need for a pedestrian element to the Loop Line. Matt Talbot and the new pedestrian bridge at chq more than surfice.

My dream solution would be to put the Dart line underground from the Tolka to beyond Pearse. Mainline and Dart services could be more efficently organised under the exisiting Connollly building linking up with Luas and an underground link to Busaras. Tara Street would again stay underground with office development above. Same for Pearse with the dual line re-emerging between it and Grand Canal. The amaount of land freed up for redevelopment would contribute to the cost of the scheme.

I was just thinking about the views Notjim. You’re right, they would be great.

Well current DART users get to see it anyway!
IFSC people do use the Matt Talbot, although there would be a benefit to having an overhead bridge if it meant avoiding the Tara St junction with the quays, which is a nightmare – so dangerous.
Overall though, widened pavements and ped crossings etc would be far preferable.
It would be great to sink the DART alright – one day, one day…

I don’t see a point to replacing the Loop Line Bridge with a slimmer version, either keep a big lump of Victoriana (which if elsewhere in the country people would be charmed by) or restore the uninterrupted view. The bend in the Liffey looks fanatastic without it. Liberty Hall should also be knocked if the bridge were to go to restore the dominance of the Custom House.

Oh purleese! Did you just drop in that little trojan “knock Liberty Hall” hoping noone would notice…?!?

One project at a time Graham!!! Loop Line Bridge first.

(maybe if you could knock Liberty Hall when all those naysayers from SIPTU are inside…?)

further to the above

The AA & other motoring bodies may objet to widening the footpaths ( narrowing an already congested quay commeter road)

A High level pedestrian access to tara street stn as described could contribute a significant benifit to pedestrians in this location at a reasonably favourable cost. ( while enhancing a functional structure )

Disabled access can be provided as with any other pedestrian overbridge by use of ramps.

Links can be made to the board-walk and promenade in front of the custom hse, linking and opening up a considerable and attractive pedestrian space to the location.

Agreed Stack-A bridge & other bridges are all positive improvements linking the quays for pedestrians. However above suggestion is specifically targeted twords accessing Tara St Stn & associated pedestrian traffic overloading at commuter times.

very hard to give ramp access to a high bridge in an urban location.

disabled access

ramp @ 4% gradient

Ht. of loopline above quays 6m approx

length of ramp required 150m approx

length of loopline between custom hse quay and intersection with Beresford place rd – approx 80m

ramp from custom hse quay to landing at beresford quay – 75m
ramp from landing to high level bridge over liffey – 75m

It looks feasable at first glance on paper althought this would require a more detailed survey to check headroom clearances, landtake, possible obstructions etc.

Yikes – someones been doing the sums 🙂

Reading back d d dallas is funny alright – I’ll chuck in a belated ‘it would be nice if’

You know that there are inventions such as elevators

elevators = additional construction cost, additional maintenance costs, may require opperator & more susceptible to vandalism.

This one is nearly solved, we could go to tender next wk.

Just on the theme of advertising hoardings on Victorian Bridges, has anyone ever noticed the one on the North Strand with the ‘Bud is King’ muck across it.

I had a good look at it recently and it really is a fantastic piece of work, not as ornate as the Westland Row bridge but very much in the same style.

I am all in favour of CIE getting a return on their properties and they really have done a World Class job with Both Busaras and Heuston. But these hoardings deliver a small return in proportion to the visual destruction that is generated.

That Bridge at Westland Row is pure class, its amazing what a bit of paint can do. Does anyone know the history of it?

Dates from 1890 or 91 – can’t remember what’s printed on the base of the columns! Pearse had to be altered to essentially have a railway burst through its facade to take the the new line.
Presumably the facade there now dates from this time also – a weird piece of architecture – as is the colour.
Unfortunately the bridge doesn’t look so classy now with huge canvas draped over it advertising IE’s Student Card.

Last time I asked – and I think I put this on another thread – Iarnrod Eireann said they had five year deals with a lot of the advertisers, and need those contracts to expire in order to start their clean-up. So they promise great things in the near future.

Stunning picture, though, Graham. Whoever approved the Loopline bridge was a moron. Obscuring the view of Custom House from O’Connell Bridge is one of the greatest sacrileges ever perpetrated in Dublin. The bridge should be ripped down and the trains put in a tunnel under the Liffey.

I heard through the pipeline that DCC are trying to get IE to do a ‘site swap’ for the Loop Line advertising hoardings so they won’t lose valuable revenue (that the government should be giving them but give to roads instead!) if they’re removed. And painting the bridge pale grey is mooted.

How long ago did you ask Sue as you know five years flies in.

The South Ciders and North Ciders advert is good. Bit farfetched to say that the bridge should be ripped down and a tunnel built so as just to see the reconstructed shell that is the Custom House. Instead, get Calatrava or the like in to remodel this part of the bridge. Would look good with an arch or somethig and fairy lights at night…more practical solution. The Dublin quays from Hueston Station to the Docklands in any way are really mediocre and unimpressive….really bland in other words. Bad example set here for the rest of the country.

I have a copy of the old/new? design, it was in the Dublin Millenium book of 1989. It was quite sexy, with transparent walls allowing you to see right through. It made the trains look like they were floating on air. And it did restore the grand sweeping view spoken about earlier. I don’t think the addition of an “arch” is constructive at all, All you’re doing is adding uneccesary materials and support. Why obstruct the view further? At the very least, the advertisement hoarding should be removed and the bridge painted white. At the moment it just looks dingy. Having said that, white is much harder to keep clean, and with all that traffic…..

As far as I know, the Loop bridge is a listed structure, though that doesn’t mean very much if the minister decrees it in the “national interest” to get rid of it.

I do think that if the advertising were removed from the bridges crossing the Liffey, Beresford Place, Gardiner Street and Amiens Street, and suitable illumination added, the result could be amazing.

But let’s face it, no-one alive has been around to witness the custom house from O’Connell Bridge, and the skyline has totally changed in the last hundred years with the SIPTU tower and the IFSC looming over it from all sides. If the loop line was removed, it still wouldn’t be that much of a view. I think the loop line is part of the city’s charm, and while a rail tunnel is proposed, it is to complement the loop line not replace it.

“The Loop Line is part of the city’s charm”

Suffering Mother of the Divinity, I’ve heard it all now 😀

so come on sue, the loop line bridge blocks the view of the river and is covered in ads, apart from that, what’s wrong with it? i think its a fine handsome victorian bridge typical of the great age of railway engineering and as good as anything that could replace it.

apart from that, what’s wrong with it? This is like the “what did the Romans ever do for us” Monty Python sketch.
So, ok, apart from the fact that the bridge is an eyesore and in the wrong place, what’s wrong with it? Er, well, that’s about it actually. Oh and it’s a big hulk of horrible metal that is about as “designed” as a Bertie Ahern interview
The point is, it shouldn’t be there. The shortest distance between Pearse Street and Connolly station is just below the Custom House. Then there’d be no Loop at all…

good grief – look at the bridges in cities like San Francisco, New York, even Newcastle, we’ve to make do with the Loop Line and then we’re told, sure, it has its own charm. This is more nonsensical nostalgia – the only reason why people like it is because it’s been there so bloody long. 😡

@Sue wrote:

apart from that, what’s wrong with it? This is like the “what did the Romans ever do for us” Monty Python sketch.
So, ok, apart from the fact that the bridge is an eyesore and in the wrong place, what’s wrong with it? Er, well, that’s about it actually. Oh and it’s a big hulk of horrible metal that is about as “designed” as a Bertie Ahern interview
The point is, it shouldn’t be there. The shortest distance between Pearse Street and Connolly station is just below the Custom House. Then there’d be no Loop at all…

good grief – look at the bridges in cities like San Francisco, New York, even Newcastle, we’ve to make do with the Loop Line and then we’re told, sure, it has its own charm. This is more nonsensical nostalgia – the only reason why people like it is because it’s been there so bloody long. 😡

Keeping approx. 40,000 private cars out of the city centre every rush hour is a very small price to pay for blocking the view of the customs house from the “An Lar” perspective.

I agree it would look at lot better with the ads off and a lick of paint like the Westland Row bridge, but it can’t be replaced as the DART in the whole scheme of things is far more important to the city’s lifeblood than a single angle view of the Customs House being ruined.

The only radical and expensive way out in future would be to build a new bridge which allows a better view of this very nice building, but I would wager that more tourists and everybody else in Dublin makes greater use of the DART, than gets depressed they cannot take a photo of the Customs House from the vantage point of a tacky amusement arcade.

I would rather have 80,000 people every day viewing the CH as they get to work and home from a DART train, rather than viewing it from their private car windows on Butt and Matt Talbot Bridges. We have to make a compromise, and in order to keep most sucessful element of our public transport network running, a nice view of pretty building being ruined from one single angle is not such a bad compromise really.

It looks fab from all the other angles and from the DART, BTW.

you still haven’t explained what’s wrong with it. the loop line is not going to move, so we need a bridge there. the loop line bridge is made of metal, yes, but apart from that, what’s not to like? if we are to have new bridges, lets have new crossings.

As I say, there’s nobody alive who’s seen the Custom House without the Loop Bridge. It’s a part of our city’s landscape whether we like it or not. I think we all agree the ads are horrible and have to go, but once that’s done, there’s some pretty decent Victorian ironwork which, with a lick of paint and some nice lights could look spectacular.

After that I’d look at whether anything can be done to make the overhead line supports fit in better with the burdge. I’ve sure the Victorians must have had some beautiful wrought iron tramline supports that could be copied.

I disagree that it blocks the view of the river. I grew up with the DART, and for me the loop line is the view of the river. It is the best vantage most people get of the river, and can look fantastic from a train in the early evening sun.

To say ‘just a single angle’ regarding the Custom House is not acknowledging the significance of it. It is the angle, the very view Gandon took into account when designing it. It’s that perfectly composed picture created, with the building at that raking angle sitting on the slight bend in the river that makes it so important, and makes the presence of the Loop Line so unfortunate, not to mention the open views lost out to the rest of the city and the sea – although admitedly the usually attractive IFSC does not look good piling up behind it.

I doubt any bridge of that height, with piers can appropriately open up the city to the east and the view of the Custom House. What limited benefits that are dervived from a new bridge I think would equalled with the refurbishment of the existing bridge, which has the added benefit of being a fine bit of Victorian engineering – yes okay the charm of being old – or rather, being of its time.
Either remove the bridge entirely or keep a restored Loop Line.

@Graham Hickey wrote:

To say ‘just a single angle’ regarding the Custom House is not acknowledging the significance of it. It is the angle, the very view Gandon took into account when designing it. It’s that perfectly composed picture created, with the building at that raking angle sitting on the slight bend in the river that makes it so important, and makes the presence of the Loop Line so unfortunate, not to mention the open views lost out to the rest of the city and the sea – although admittedly the usually attractive IFSC does not look good piling up behind it..

I can respect this, but how many Dubliners are losing sleep over this?

The fact is that people need to get to work and the city’s need to move and create wealth takes precedence over any nice view of a building being ruined. Dublin is a living city, it needs to function as a city and work as a city first and foremost. If it can do this and be visually attractive at the same time this is great.

But the loop line blocking the Customs House is not a major issue for Dubliners and nor should it be. Getting to work while preventing the city from having a Manila type traffic problem very much is a major issue in Dublin. Perhaps THE major issue in 21st Century Dublin so why get hung up on 18th Century aesthetics?

The fact is (and I am not trying to be condescending here) but the Loop Line will be there long after we are all dead and buried. It’s far too important to Dublin.

The 18th Century view of the Customs House being blocked from one angle is somewhat of a throw-back to a Dublin city which does not exsists anymore. Demanding the loop line being removed is akin to these people in East Wall who march around with “No Skyscrapers Here” placards. Have they really thought about the consequences and the reality.

The city no longer revolves along the Parnell Street-Stephens Green axis with O’Connell Bridge being visited by every citizen during the course of their day and if anything the city is moving organically more towards the east of the Customs House. The visual obstruction caused by the Loop Line will not be a significant factor that it once was because east of Matt Talbot Bridge will/is now longer be warehouses and industrial wastelands.

Dublin is a 21st City with 21st dynamics so why get hung up on 18th views. The loop line in the whole scheme of things is far more important to Dublin than the Customs House. The CH could be bulldozed tomorrow and the impact upon our city would be almost nothing. Take away the Loop Line and the city ceases to function. Altuistic leanings aside, Dublin need 21st transport much more than 18th Century vistas. I don’t see Peter Marks offering powdered wigs to their customers either.

At the end of the day it comes down to making do the best we can and to be pragmatic as well as sensitive to the cityscape take down the ads on the Loop Line and paint up the iron work in a tastefull manner is the best we are going to get.

We all want a beautiful city, but we need a functioning one more. But if we can find a compromise we can all live with then that’s the best we can hope for.

respect,
http://www.extendthedart.com

P11 Comms, the people in East Wall were right, the proposed development for Spencer Dock was a dog, too bland, too ugly, too single use, too hard to service, not sustainable. The arguements they used were too blunt, they made it seem that they thought any skyscrapers in the area would be wrong, but the fact of the matter is, a better proposal, still containing high rise elements, would have provoced only a token objection.

Of course, we have to balance function with other aspects of the city, we can’t sacrifice everything to finding a transport solution, nor can we ignore the transport needs of the city. Bulldoze the Customs House and the city becomes a less desirable place to live.

@notjim wrote:

Of course, we have to balance function with other aspects of the city, we can’t sacrifice everything to finding a transport solution, nor can we ignore the transport needs of the city. Bulldoze the Customs House and the city becomes a less desirable place to live.

I entirely agree with notjim it is possible to have both transport and heritage, the sad fact is that both have been entirely neglected over the years.

P11, I don’t think anyone’s proposing to knock the Loop Line and the two fingers to IE – rather if it is reasonably practical to do so in the greater scheme of things than so be it.
I don’t understand your thinking regarding ‘an 18th entury view’, that’s like saying in 2100 we won’t care for ’20th or 21st century views’.
A view is a view.

@Graham Hickey wrote:

It’s that perfectly composed picture created, with the building at that raking angle sitting on the slight bend in the river that makes it so important, and makes the presence of the Loop Line so unfortunate,

Don’t back down Graham, such truth hasn’t been heard in Abbeyleix in decades

Hoardings to be cleared from the Loopline bridge
The Sunday Business Post

http://www.irish-architecture.com/news/2004/000261.html

Although perhaps they’re an asset to the city – passing outside the Irish Life Centre today an American couple were taking a picture of themselves standing in front of the huge Bulmers sign there – notably not the Custom House behind it 🙂

Americans, Graham? says it all

Rumour has it that CIE have realised that the advertising hordings do need planning permission after all – that they have been illegal for years.
It seems the SBP story is simply making the best of an obligation to remove them that is coming “down the tracks” anyway.

Sadly the only change I have seen to the hoardings is a temporary sign put beside the ‘Right Price Tiles’ to announce seasonal discounts.

Like so many other promises such as the Leinster House Front Lawn it would appear that the announcement was just a PR trick. It looks like the Ads are here to stay.

In case anyone thought the loop line bridge was ugly, have a look at this

http://www.ksky.ne.jp/~hideki/keihin/nihombashi.htm

http://askayama.net/machicard/tokyo23/chuo/nihombashi-bridge.html

the bottom part is the original bridge in Tokyo, the top part is a freeway built over the original bridge in the 1960’s:eek:

That bridge would require a lot more than a few ads removed to improve its appearance. The reason so many people wish to see the ads go from the loopline is that it would make a huge difference both to the appearance of the structure but also to the view of the Custom House.

some brave soul should start a campaign to boycott product advertised on the bridge. If advertisers get a notion that they may be losing trade as a result of using the loop line as a clothes line for their wares then they’ll remove them pronto. This is the only way to get through the them.

Some good news on the grapevine regarding the Loop Line advertising: A series of planning applications was lodged by CIE last year (Refs. 4368/05 to 4371/05) for the replacement of static adverts with tri-vision ones on a variety of their railway bridges and other property. As I understand it, the higher-grossing use of these sites is part of an arranged deal whereby the Loop Line advertising will be removed with no revenue loss.

These have appeared before separately – here they are together:

I know Liberty Hall has a bad reputation that isn’t completely deserved but I don’t think it adds much to that vista.
The IFSC looks well pity the subsequent buildings in the IFSC are so mediocre

Thought at first there that new trivisions were planned for the bridge as the ‘good news’ 😮 🙂

Great to hear, all we need know is a timescale….

Yes when Liberty Hall and the Custom House are lined up together they do tend to look ridiculous, although they are an ‘item’ at this stage – how could we possibly break them up now? 🙂

It’s interesting how to an outsider the position of Liberty Hall must be just as offensive as 1965, whilst for Dubliners the pair have entered a certain popular consciousness (okay, for some anyway :)), and acquired quite a different meaning.

Really the setting of the Custom House is long gone anyway – for me it’s either a dominant role in that whole area for the building that is required, or else for it to take its place alongside everything else, which is what has happened. As successful as the IFSC is, it is equally damaging to views of the building from the west, piling up behind it. But in the context of just accepting a built up environment for the Custom House, it works as well as nearly anything could.

The best view of Liberty Hall is definitely from the Ha’penny/Millenium Bridge area – a great feature on the skyline just as the quays begin to lower off into the distance on that bend.

Going to miss this sign though 🙂

You just know that 90percent of those who see that every day don’t get the joke…

The ads are coming down today.

Get down to the bridge and check it out!!:)

is there anyway we can get rid of the loop line bridge altogether ? its ugly. The new advertisments wont make much of a difference

🙂

The Sunday Times – Ireland

The Sunday Times January 08, 2006

Loop line bridge is ad-free at last
John Burns

UGLY advertisements on Dublin’s Loop Line bridge, regarded as the one of the city’s worst eyesores, were removed yesterday after 40 years.
Campaigners have long demanded that Iarnrod Eireann clean up the railway bridge across the Liffey, which infamously blocks the view of the 18th century Custom House from O’Connell bridge.

But the company delayed removing the ads, which earn about €500,000 a year in revenue, until Dublin city council gave planning permission for 13 billboard sites elsewhere, in order to offset the loss of income. Iarnrod Eireann has now obtained permission for 13 “tri-vision” advertising sites, which have three constantly changing images on the same billboard.

“We will do a major repainting of the bridge later this year,” said Barry Kenny, a spokesman for Iarnrod Eireann. “We are very happy that this is all resolved. All the ads are going, and the bridge is being restored to its former glory.”

The Loop Line has caused controversy since its completion in 1891. It links the railway stations at Westland Row and Connolly, but instead of taking a direct route below the Gandon-designed Custom House, engineers decided to loop it above.

Bad enough that the city’s finest building was obscured, but the view from O’Connell bridge was disimproved further in the early 1960s when tacky ads for biscuits and drinks were installed on its steel lattice by CIE.

Due to growing protests, Iarnrod Eireann eventually agreed to discontinue ads on the Loop Line once its contract with advertisers expired at the end of 2005.

The Loop Line could eventually be demolished, however, and be replaced by a tunnel under the Liffey. Under Transport 21, the government’s recently announced plan, an underground interconnector linking Heuston station with Connolly is proposed, and a spur from Connolly to Tara Street railways would be a logical addition.

The sooner they knock down that ugly bridge the better.

Just realised – the clock in the middle must be gone too 😮
Now that was a worthy feature: so very handy for Tara and Connolly users. It should definitely be replaced with a new, well-designed timepiece – it used to keep excellent time, along with O’Connell Bridge House’s clock.

Brilliant news this – roll on the repainting, when was the last time it was done wonder – what period paint scheme is that dead grey and cream – 50s?
(:))

Walked past this afternoon and noted that the Clock is still there. The two panels on either side are bare with no adverts however the panels over the roadways on north and south quays are still in place including our friend above “Butty Bridge”
JJ

Phew! (joke)

Still some way to go so. Strange they took down the most difficult ones first…

Things aren’t quite as The Sunday Times might have us believe – as JJ says pretty much everything is still there. Just the central boards (not even their hoardings) are gone. Very eerie looking:

So there’s work to go yet.

Heineken is still to the east:

…and these yokes of course to the west, on either side:

The view from O’Connell Bridge on a miserable January morning:

And just by chance I passed this on Tara St, so certainly the CC/I

Anyone know if there was ever heraldic emblems in the crest shapes on the four river columns?

@The Sunday Times January 08, 2006 wrote:

“We will do a major repainting of the bridge later this year,” said Barry Kenny, a spokesman for Iarnrod Eireann. “We are very happy that this is all resolved. All the ads are going, and the bridge is being restored to its former glory.”

The Eiffel tower in Paris is painted every seven years. Quite alot of it, maintenance on the tower includes applying 50 metric tons of three graded tones of paint every 7 years to protect it from rust. On occasion, the colour of the paint is changed. On the first floor, there are interactive consoles hosting a poll for the colour to use for a future session of painting.

I think that poll is a great idea and allow the colour scheme to change along with public opinion.

What I would suggest is that a similar city wide poll be held here in Dublin with regards to the loop line bridge. It could easily be run room this location. If somebody cared enough to put in the work, photomontage type pictures could also be set up to allow a better idea of how it would fit in once painted.
We could at least run a Poll here just for opinions sake.

Iarnrod Eireann Orange & Black anyone:D

Okay suggest some colurs for the poll, and i’ll photoshop one of the photos to show all the options, and start a poll. Might get the site some publicity.

@Paul Clerkin wrote:

Okay suggest some colurs for the poll

If you could do a “Custom House cream” colour option that might be an interesting shade for the bridge. It might help it to blend in with the Custom House, and might generally make it less noticeable (e.g. cream against an often cloudy sky versus the current black against a cloudy sky).

I would stick with something very similar to the existing scheme.
Anything cream or white would get dirty very quickly and needless to say would not be cleaned.

Piers a similar colour to the existing, or even darker grey (maybe black?), carried all the way to the top. Lattice work a paler shade of grey than the existing / a bluish grey (seagull grey, might be called), to blend with our grey skies but also with our occasional blue ones too. Also, I like the pier details picked out in a brighter colour (say, the light grey) as they would get lost in a monochrome pier colour.

Or maybe dark blue piers with pale blue lattice work? (For the Dubs, like.;) )

Or a greenish colour- a blend of the CH dome and the IFSC glass? (Might clash horribly with the green Darts.:eek: )

of like the old Dublin Bus colours – dark blue and cream

Glad to see your taking on board my colour poll idea,

I think we are all agreed that the best solution is a colour that “hides” the bridge as best as possible. Allowing for a much nicer view. I’d go for either a grey/green colour to blend the bridgeinto the buildings behind it. Or a dark blue colour

In a perfect world an expert sky blue cover job would hide the bridge completely, but I doubt it would be pulled properly.

i’ll take care of this tonight and launch a poll and send out a release

Unfortunately off-white/cream is just not an option – it’ll get absolutely filthy in a matter of weeks. Any regular Loop Line users will know only too well just how dirty the interior of the bridge is at close quarters. All that dirt will flow down the sides in the rain over time.

The two-tone grey scheme is a nice idea, if not perhaps a bit too similar to what we already have – the light grey in particular would look very well on the latticework contrasting with the dark piers.

However I propose a nice bottle green with the slightest of metallic sheens 🙂
A classic colour that would match the IFSC very well – unfortunately the Custom House verdigris is just too gaudy a shade to be replicated!

We all have something of an illusion as to how things were in the 19th century – with everything only either being black or white. So we paint all ironwork, street furniture and major pieces of infrastruture black, and paint all windows and Victorian interiors white – nothing could be further from how it was. The era was a riot of colour, albeit of a mildly depressing variety 🙂

I think we ought to make a feature of the Loop Line, not hide it.

Green for me, assuming it’s not going to be too much on those huge piers.

@kefu wrote:

I would stick with something very similar to the existing scheme.
Anything cream or white would get dirty very quickly and needless to say would not be cleaned.

Agreed, I would like to see a very dark green. Isn’t this the colour it was originally?

Check out the original signage with the old IE logo.

Tada! Gone.

I haven’t seen the situation from the ground yet but I cross the bridge twice daily, and there’s so much lattice work that I can’t see it making a giant amount of diffence.
I read about 5 years back that there were plans to completely rebuild the bridge and have a new low impact one in place of this…thing.

Anyone know what happened to that plan? On of the most important in the city, I would wager.

What about flood lighting? Any thoughts? (not that CIE would pay for it)

I’d rather hide it, to be honest!!

The old photo before constuction of loopline is amazing! I really hope this bridge comes down, even though i know its unlikely as it is said to be a bit of a engineering masterpiece! but love the view where you can look right down the liffey from o’connel bridge, let’s hope for a tunnel!

Without the hordings it would be relatively transparent. It’s a matrix of steel, so it should look quite ok and may have been intended by its original designer to look relatively low impact. The hordings certainly don’t look pretty.

I’ve one suggestion…

TV screens along the city side of it… cameras on the other side..
Bridge becomes invisible 🙂

I may be the only one, but I love the engineering elegance of the lattice structure. There is talk of picing a colour to hide, but I suggest we should pick a colour (or colours) that shows it off at its best.

I would love to see it the same colour as the Ha’penny bridge, but I take the point about dirt.

Failing that, I would agree with subtle and muted colours, but not as an attempt to hide it, rather to bring out its beauty.

@Paul Clerkin wrote:

i’ll take care of this tonight and launch a poll and send out a release

Any luck with that poll Paul?

@MrX wrote:

I’ve one suggestion…

TV screens along the city side of it… cameras on the other side..
Bridge becomes invisible 🙂

And then you could have advertising every fifteen minutes like on a regular telly:)

Are all of the hoardings completely gone at this stage? I know that tis a while ago but the pictures show the metal supports for the hoardings still in place.

They were taking the metal supports off as I came into town just now, sunday.

Henieken sign is still in place on the east side

Would that be because the ad reached a part of the bridge other ads could not reach?

ctesiphon Would that be because the ad reached a part of the bridge other ads could not reach?

‘Probably…’:)

So is everything down yet i.e. supports and all ?

Just about Caster – only these are remaining on the west side:

All the supports from the central span are gone and the bridge looks great – it’s so refreshing to look down from O’Connell Bridge and not see all that clutter anymore. Looks so neat and tidy compared with the gaudy muck that predominated there. Painting it will make all the difference.

It’ll be some job tackling these fellas:

It has just occurred to me looking at the first of Graham’s pictures: will the red and yellow (or are they yellow and black?- hard to tell) headroom stripes and the red and white sign have to stay? Could compromise whatever colour scheme is chosen- unless it’s going to be red and yellow stripes.

Too late to add that one to the poll, Paul?:eek:

i think painting the bridge some neutral colour wont work for a number of reasons. Firstly any attempt to hide it wont work as it is simply to big and ugly. Secondly it would get dirty very quickly and look awful.

The bridge is there, it spoils the view of the custom house no matter what way it is painted, so why not paint it in a strong colour, flood light it and make a feature of it as fine piece of Victorain engineering which despite all its faults is a pert of the streetscape now after 150 Years

Well..that’s a fair idea. Maybe red like the Forth Bridge in Scotland (I am not comparing architectural merit!).

I note that there have been no further posts on this thread for almost two weeks; has the removal phase been completed yet?

I have to say fair play to Barry Kenny of Irish Rail he has been as good as his word on this issue

Yes all gone

@Niall wrote:

The Sunday Times – Ireland

“We will do a major repainting of the bridge later this year,” said Barry Kenny, a spokesman for Iarnrod Eireann. “We are very happy that this is all resolved. All the ads are going, and the bridge is being restored to its former glory.”

Still no sign of the re-paint happening… Anyone heard anything about this?

Unless they do a “Golden Gate” job and make the structure stand out in its on right, then I fear it will continue to act as a wall between the city centre proper and its large extension down the quays.
Real consideration needs to taken regarding scrapping it and either re-routing the DART or putting in a low-viz bridge in the current location, as was planned years and years back.

But I won’t hold my breath.

In fairness to Irish Rail they were asked to remove signage that they derived a lot of income from; this they did albeit a little slowly.
Given the explosive growth in passenger numbers not being accompanied by a comensurate increase in funding one can see how this would not be at the top of their list of priorities.

The establishement of a fund through the Department of Environment Heritage & Local Government for industrial heritage includuing railways would be most welcome.

Whilst on this subject the ‘Low Bridge’ signage placed on the perfectly restored bridge on Westland Row turned my stomach it is just horrendous and must go on December 21

The observant of you will have noticed the Loop Line getting its long awaited overhaul. The first section of the Loop Line bridge has been repainted from Beresford Place to the Quay. Its the same colour…dark grey but looks all the better for a smartening up. The scaffolds are now being erected for the section at the Quay. I presume the exsiting colour scheme will remain in place there.

We best get used to it, it certainly won’t be going anywhere now, the IE rail plan & interconnector reconfiguration will facilitate greater frrequency acros the loop line.

So that pipedream of a new bridge is gone then? 🙁

@fergalr wrote:

So that pipedream of a new bridge is gone then? 🙁

Wonderful oxymoron:)

Saw the bridge all covered up this morning…..Pity it’s gonna be painted the same drab gun metal grey.

Saw from the DARTearlier in the year that they appeared to be testing different colours on small patches. Including a light silvery-grey that would have perfectly matched our Irish summer skies. Oh well, maybe the gunmetal is an undercoat…

They should paint a mural on it of the Custom House and the Liffey.

@Morlan wrote:

They should paint a mural on it of the Custom House and the Liffey.

I often wonder what people would make of this bridge if it made more of an architectural statement in and of itself? Would we still lament the loss of the view down the quays? Maybe if it was flanked by one or two pedestrian bridges like Hungerford Bridge in London is, we might take a different view of it?

http://www.londonarchitecture.co.uk/Building/784/Hungerford_Bridges.php

Can’t it go when the new interconnector and metro are in place? Otherwise we won’t be able to appreciate fully, the new giant Gormley when that emerges 🙂

Dublin city centre would without a shadow of a doubt look better without it. It simply has to go.

I think the Metro along its current alignment and the East West alignment selected for the interconnector has guaranteed the survival of the loop line for the next 20-50 years.

I agree on the Hungerford Bridge it really softened the harsh engineering of the Charing Cross route out. I hate Charing Cross the underground walk takes 10 minutes in trainers! Bitch about Tara St all you want but at least it is user friendly and a walkway to Connolly would seriously ease the overcrowding at peak times with a car free route provided!

@Morlan wrote:

They should paint a mural on it of the Custom House and the Liffey.

I never presume a person’s age so Morlan your idea was first mooted by President Erskine Childers back in the early seventies. He probably got the idea from the ‘muriel’ panted in Johnny Mac’s in Leestown (aka Dunboyne) in The Riodan’s. Childers had been Minister for Post & Telegraphs with broadcasting under his mandate so I’m sure that someone with a slim black laptop case can get €80,000 to write a report as to how he came up with the thought. (You know the type of report, the health service is a mess (€126,000), the poor don’t like being poor (€105,000) or most people have ten toes, except those who had been in accidents resulting in injuries to their lower limbs (€63,000). The last one was particularly interesting reading.

@Morlan wrote:

They should paint a mural on it of the Custom House and the Liffey.

@lunasa wrote:

I never presume a person’s age so Morlan your idea was first mooted by President Erskine Childers back in the early seventies.

Funny enough I independently had almost the same fanciful notion a few years ago. My idea was less expensive and less permenant than a paint job; I was thinking more along the lines of using that (pastic/canvas?) material they use to drape over scafolding to cover the side of the bridge. The idea was to create a large temporary trompe d’oeil to hide most of the bridge (I don’t think the supports could be hidden effectively this way). The perspective trick would only work from near one particular vantage point so the obvious candidate would be the center of O’Connell Bridge. I started some calculations to work out the limits of where the trick would be effective in terms of distance from the central vantage point.

I didn’t have time to dedicate to the project and to be honest was a bit embarassed by the whimsical nature of the idea to research it properly. If I get a couple of hours I might try to dig out what I had done at the time. Maybe someone would give me €80k to properly spec. the idea 😀

the loop line is a scar on the capital.. its needs to be replaced by a tunnell from connolly to Peirce at least

yep all we need is a few more billion to spend on what would be a vanity project. It would be cheaper to dismantle the Custom house brick by brick and move it to Eden Quay than to build another rail tunnel under the Liffey!

Am I the only one not deeply offended by this bridge? I know it’s ugly but it fails to make my blood boil.

€1bn for a beautiful vista over the Quays… well worth it IMHO. Maybe not this decade but one to look out or in the next decade

@alonso wrote:

yep all we need is a few more billion to spend on what would be a vanity project. It would be cheaper to dismantle the Custom house brick by brick and move it to Eden Quay than to build another rail tunnel under the Liffey!

Am I the only one not deeply offended by this bridge? I know it’s ugly but it fails to make my blood boil.

Not at all, Alonso. I feel it’s pretty acceptable and is extremely essential. Even without these mitigating factors, can you imagine the difficulties in getting the dart to a safe depth under the river, given the elevation it rides at currently through the city centre?! That would be a HUGE job, for only a superficial visual improvement.

I accept that it ruins a nice view, but I don’t really believe it is as big a factor in the division between the docklands and the city centre as, say, Pearse St or North Earl St/Talbot St are.

Incidentally, here are a few shots from weeks ago of the repainting and sandblasting.

Im afraid the loopline is going nowhere. 🙁

The problem is that you cant move the line underground as Connolly station been deemed unsuitable for underground tunneling (which is why the Metro ‘Tram’ North and the Interconnector don’t go near Connolly). And even if you could, the tunnel would have to start all the way back near the Killester stop as the track is elevated above ground level shortly after Killester all the way into Connolly. The track doesn’t go to ground level until before Lansdowne Rd. So moving it underground would require a long tunnel which or course be VERY expensive. It is a pity as it would be ideal.

For me, painting the bridge light grey would be a very good idea as it will look good and bright but it would help (in a small way) to not be as much as a eyesore to Customs Hse.

There is another option (a very long longshot) which is replace it with a new, more slender bridge, possibly a suspension bridge with a single tower at Tara St station. :confused:

Perhaps some cosmetic changes can be put in place. For example can the overhead wires be removed and replace with an electricity source at track level? And an imagnative lighting display could at least make more of a feature of the bridge.

Im not sure the “Hungerford” idea is any use though as a predestrian route already exists between Tara and Connolly (Butt Bridge) and Pearse and Connolly (Shaw Bridge)

@StephenC wrote:

Perhaps some cosmetic changes can be put in place. For example can the overhead wires be removed and replace with an electricity source at track level?

retrofitting the entire DART fleet to be compatible with track power might be a tad pricey and disruptive.

@StephenC wrote:

Im not sure the “Hungerford” idea is any use though as a predestrian route already exists between Tara and Connolly (Butt Bridge) and Pearse and Connolly (Shaw Bridge)

I actually didn’t really mean it as a connection to the train station when I suggested it. It was more of a way of getting people up above the city to see the view, without having as much of a visual impact as the proposed cable car would have on the city as a result.

@weehamster wrote:

Im afraid the loopline is going nowhere. 🙁

There is another option (a very long longshot) which is replace it with a new, more slender bridge, possibly a suspension bridge with a single tower at Tara St station. :confused:

integrating the station into the bridge structure..where they want a high rise anyway,. i like it brilliant idea…

@weehamster wrote:

Im afraid the loopline is going nowhere. 🙁

The problem is that you cant move the line underground as Connolly station been deemed unsuitable for underground tunneling (which is why the Metro ‘Tram’ North and the Interconnector don’t go near Connolly). And even if you could, the tunnel would have to start all the way back near the Killester stop as the track is elevated above ground level shortly after Killester all the way into Connolly. The track doesn’t go to ground level until before Lansdowne Rd. So moving it underground would require a long tunnel which or course be VERY expensive. It is a pity as it would be ideal.

For me, painting the bridge light grey would be a very good idea as it will look good and bright but it would help (in a small way) to not be as much as a eyesore to Customs Hse.

There is another option (a very long longshot) which is replace it with a new, more slender bridge, possibly a suspension bridge with a single tower at Tara St station. :confused:

Why is moving from an elevated track down into a tunnel, say after Grand Canal Dock and before Pearse, a problem? Not enough room?

If they did put the line underground it would release a large amount of prime city centre land that could be used to part finance it. For example if the Pearse stop was underground Pearse station could be sold on and redeveloped. As could Tara and all the track in between.

They could also get rid of Tara street stop altogether in favour of looping a bit further up to a cross liffey station next to the metro north cross liffey station: so O’Connell bridge stop would be the transfer point for metro north, DART, luas red and green. The Lucan luas stop might be quite close as well.

@Maskhadov wrote:

€1bn for a beautiful vista over the Quays… well worth it IMHO. Maybe not this decade but one to look out or in the next decade

you forget the “art” that’s going to ruin the vista further down

@JoePublic wrote:

Why is moving from an elevated track down into a tunnel, say after Grand Canal Dock and before Pearse, a problem? Not enough room?

If they did put the line underground it would release a large amount of prime city centre land that could be used to part finance it. For example if the Pearse stop was underground Pearse station could be sold on and redeveloped. As could Tara and all the track in between.

They could also get rid of Tara street stop altogether in favour of looping a bit further up to a cross liffey station next to the metro north cross liffey station: so O’Connell bridge stop would be the transfer point for metro north, DART, luas red and green. The Lucan luas stop might be quite close as well.

there’s already plans to develop the land over and around Tara and Pearse. Airspace is something IE have tragically failed to exploit up to now.

The DART will connect with Metro North at stephens green anyway, What you’re proposing would effectively shut the DART for the best part of a decade. That’d be one hell of an EIS to write!

I’m not 100% on the ‘swing’ required, but it’s a shame the opportunity wasn’t taken when the DART was being developed to investigate moving/replacing the Loop Line further to the east behind the Custom House. Perhaps doing away with Tara Street and taking advantage of the vast acres of derelict land north and south of the river, including the IFSC site for the new line. The new Platforms 5, 6 and 7 could have been purpose-built to the east of Connolly instead, with the current 1890’s platforms given over to further terminating space that Connolly has so desperately needed for the past decade.

It would have created extra rail capacity, and improved the wider city, partially funded by selling off Loop Line sites. The Custom House Liffey vista would largely have been restored, as well as the Gardiner Street vista of same, and indeed ironically that of Connolly Station itself down Talbot Street.

@alonso wrote:

there’s already plans to develop the land over and around Tara and Pearse. Airspace is something IE have tragically failed to exploit up to now.

The DART will connect with Metro North at stephens green anyway, What you’re proposing would effectively shut the DART for the best part of a decade. That’d be one hell of an EIS to write!

There’s a lot of land between Pearse street and grand canal dock where trains are parked etc where perhaps a tunnel could be sunk without affecting the current line. I’m not familiar with the dart line north of Connolly. Obviously the current line would have to remain open until a tunnel was built. I’m not an engineer perhaps it can’t be done. Anywho, there’s no harm in tossing out ideas, just in case the money is still rolling post transport 21!

It’s just not going to happen. The whole point of the underground interconnector is to increase capacity on the loop line.

Poor auld Custom House, sitting there ignored by the old city. Now we have the DDDA threatening to block its view from the east with some horrendous sculpture. I don’t care what the DDDA’s proposal is, leave the river alone.

© Copyright hanscmueller

@JoePublic wrote:

There’s a lot of land between Pearse street and grand canal dock where trains are parked etc where perhaps a tunnel could be sunk without affecting the current line. I’m not familiar with the dart line north of Connolly. Obviously the current line would have to remain open until a tunnel was built. I’m not an engineer perhaps it can’t be done. Anywho, there’s no harm in tossing out ideas, just in case the money is still rolling post transport 21!

It’ certainly couldn’t be done, unless the dart was turned into a roller-coaster.:)

No way on earth this is ever going to happen, and given that rail commuters were hacked off by the closure of the Dart line for the demolition of the West Stand at Lansdowne for a weekend there is bugger all chance of the busiest rail lines in the country being closed for such a long period of time just so a ‘nice view’ could be made available to the 50 or so people in Dublin who are interested!!!

@Rory W wrote:

It’ certainly couldn’t be done, unless the dart was turned into a roller-coaster.:)

I’m sure you’re right and that you know what you’re talking about, but I don’t see why it is totally obvious that is impossible to build a tunnel next to an existing rail line while keeping the existing line open. I’m sure such a thing has never been accomplished anywhere in the world before. I look forward to seeing the roller coaster loop-the-loop at heuston station as the interconnector emerges next to/under/around the existing lines. 😀

Anywho, I concede that it will never happen and there are many more important transport projects required for Dublin, but the original point I was making was that if they did do it it would release acres of city centre development land to part finance it.

Have you spotted the new paint job yet….on the pillars. Ugggh

Is it that beautiful ultra dull matt grey….I thought I saw from the distance?

No that the black with peach detail. Its disgusting

I think the correct term is ‘Jaundiced Yellow’. Is it meant to ‘complement’ the yellow building beside Siptu ?

Well I didnt want to be so blunt but yes I think that suits it. Why not just stick to the grey, And add lighting. Looks absolutely shite now.

The yellow might be too strong, but the iron work looks fantastic, it is a fabulous job, bringing out the muscular elegance of the bridge structure.

Bees!

So utterly gaudy.

Only brings Guinness to mind. I wonder is it an example of subliminal advertising in action cos Iarnrod Eireann couldn’t afford to forego all the advertising money.