Macken St Bridge – Santiago Calatrava

About time

Where is that street?

I assume that the bridge is in , or around, the Specer Dock non-development.

Macken Street – halfway between the Matt Talbot bridge and the East Link bridge

I aways wondered why it was called the Macken St bridge, as it goes from Cardiff Lane to Guild St.

It is an exceptional design and it is a disgrace that it has sat in a filing cabinet for so long, Dublin CC should have been given the money for it at least three years ago.

It can not come soon enough for the docklands

So what is all that stuff behind the bridge in the Photoshop montage? Not there now, is it?

The new developments at Spencer dock?
What is the pole like structure?

actually apart from the pole it is all there, the spencer dock development is this side of the bridge, there is a big hole there now.

Think its a beautiful piece of work myself and will look great down there where the expanse of the river can be appreciated.

It is beautiful, and that is my favorite part of the Liffey. The very existance of this bridge will bring people to it, and encourage walkers.

( Amazing how quiet, now, the quays get past Liberty Hall). I also wish, while I am on the subject, that the Custom house was open, in some way, to the public – museum maybe, though we have many already, rather than just being a pretty building owned by some government department.

notjim, I assumed that this photo was taken from Sir John Rogersons key, with Liberty Hall and the custom house on the far left.

Originally posted by asdasd
I also wish, while I am on the subject, that the Custom house was open, in some way, to the public – museum maybe, though we have many already, rather than just being a pretty building owned by some government department.

Isnt it? I’ve been in to a exhibition on the building itself

Well. I have just toured the city as as tourist with American friends and nowhere, in no literature, was the building mentioned as a potential tourist site; nor is it on any guided tours.

Right, so it is open. Must go in.

Originally posted by Paul Clerkin

Blasted 4/5 story apartments!
Fantastic bridge though, I really like it. What’s that pole thing in the background behind the apartments?

Originally posted by asdasd
So what is all that stuff behind the bridge in the Photoshop montage? Not there now, is it?

Would you like me to give the montage some special, morlan photoshop treatment?

I think the first building AIG House may see a little real photoshop treatment at some stage. It would make an excellent site for a landmark building as it is a small enough site to ensure that it wasn’t too bulky.

It’s also about the blandest of all the buildings in the second phase of the IFSC 😮

I would guess that the pole thing is included as a generic replacement for the Nelson Pillar, before the Spire was decided (i. e. before December 1998). But they are way off with its positioning. From this vantage point today, the Spire would appear much closer to Liberty Hall.

Nice bridge, why don’t they replace that god- awful monstrosity that is the East-link with something as pretty, and presumably, safe.

Originally posted by kefu
The pole thing looks to me like a crane whose arm is facing directly at you or away, giving it the impression of being a single structure rather than L-shaped.

thats what it clearly is in the original picture

looking forward to seeing this completed too. hope the construction moves quicker than the other calatrava

Originally posted by Paul Clerkin

thats what it clearly is in the original picture

clearly? i would have though that the artist would have at least made it look more.. craneish.

It’s amazing to see the new developments creeping down along the liffey. Just think what it will look like in 100 years to come. I foresee many more landmark buildings springing up along here in the future. 🙂

Has the design changed? I thought the original images were different – the main armature thing looked less like a bent pole and was a kind of elongated delta shape, quite wide at the base where it met the bridge. I’m sure I saw it as a model down the Corpo.

Or maybe I dreamed it.

At any rate, I’m not sure I like it – the junction between the vertical and horizontal elements is ugly.

I think the design has changed. The model in the Council Offices shows it has a thicker pylon with a circular hole through it. Also the pylon is curved more towards the bridge deck( not as upright).
JJ

The model in the CC definitely looked better than this image…proportions and vertical v horizontal looked more balanced…I agree with JL…that vertical just looks too scrawny…the model that was in the CC also had an arrow-tip to the end of the mainstay…not sure I miss that at all 🙂

I aways wondered why it was called the Macken St bridge, as it goes from Cardiff Lane to Guild St.

It does go to Macken Street – Guild Street is the one further back towards the Customs House (Citibank is on the corner)

still think it has to be a pillar idea

the pole, that is

It’s a lovely thing, what a feature for the area – God knows the only flippin feature! It is light and elegant – if anything it could do without the chunky road element altogether to make it even more so!

It’s such a pity, such a shame, that the East Link opens, now Macken St opens, and yet the tall ships fall at the last hurdle that is the Matt Talbot, to enbable them to sit outside the Custom House, recreating that classic 18th century scene. What a shame, probably something that wasn’t even considered when the Matt Talbot, albeit a fine structure, was built.
Suppose the current craze for these ships didn’t exist at the time, and traffic congestion was something of a greater priority than creating postcard scenes 🙂

According to the Indo today, the project is in doubt because of rising costs – E20m estmate is now E38m.

That price rise is very modest in comparison to your average NRA road cost over-run

Going to be very wide isn’t it….

Four traffic lanes, two bus corridors, two cycle ways, pedestrian paths and possibly two tram tracks? WTF, it’ll be as wide as OC bridge.. pivoting too, and in the shape of a harp.. sounds brilliant.

Anyway, here’s some of his other works… quite similar to the Macken Bridge.

BUENOS AIRES – Footbridge Puerto Mujer

Seville Alamillo Bridge

HAARLEMMERMER – Three Holland Bridges

does anyone remember how much the east-link bridge cost to build?

Hopefully it will go ahead, its the kind of landmark that the docklands needs, after the legobuild office developments of the north bank.

I love the indo’s tone of indignation – how dare it go up in price although the spec has totally changed. When building a landmark such as this we must persue it. Does anyone know how much the Customs house would cost to build today? Who knows, but the city would surely be worse off without it.

Well said

Hmmm – yes, but if they said it would cost a billion euro…?!?

Drumcondra would be helped no end by a landmark solid gold 100m statue of Bertie, cost is no issue!

Originally posted by d_d_dallas
Drumcondra would be helped no end by a landmark solid gold 100m statue of Bertie, cost is no issue!

Paid for by a hatfull of winners at the Galway races!!!!

But seriously, 38m is not a lot of money for an six lane and two pavement bridge, remembering the width of the river at this point

To put things into context La Touche House the smallest of the original IFSC blocks sold 2 years ago for 60m it is about the size of a typical Modern Office block c4500-5000Square Metres

I think this situation is a standoff between the DDDA and DCC over who picks up the tab. I wonder how the purchasors of the Phase 1 Spencer Dock Apartments will react if it is shelved?

I mean Spencer Dock isn’t really on the Northside if the bridge exists !!!!!!!!!

Perhaps the Luas lines are intended to run over two of the traffic lanes, which would make sense as the Luas would in theory be consuming some of the of car traffic.
It’s going to be fantastic for pedestrians – nice and blustery down there too!

Wonder will it be able to cope with these new ‘Supercube’ trucks…

At the time that images of the bridge first appeared, it was said that the design was inspired by an Irish harp…….but how could that be when there’s such a consistent theme with a number of his other bridges, as you have shown Morlan?

i’ve realised what makes someone really funny is not telling lots of original jokes or quips but telling the same joke to many different people

the same goes for these bridges…

i was very confused when my illustrations teacher in college told you find a stlye and stick with it, you don’t come up with a appropriate style for each project…

there all nice bridges but as you pointed out he said oh yes harp that’ll sell it to the irish…

but at the same time i don’t like the bridges at all its like we doing some urban regenreation like get catrava in.. now we have the same bridge in many different cities same goes for making oconnell street look european

It would be very sad if Calatrava’s bridge is not built. Let’s hope it will and that we don’t get a cheaper and more plainer East Link styled bridge.

This piece from Alan Stanford in the Indo

A couple of things, apparently unconnected, caught my eye in the paper over the last couple of days. It would appear that Dublin City Council is now getting cold feet over the cost of a new bridge over the Liffey in the docks area. The bridge in question has been designed by Santiago Calatrava, who has graced the Liffey with another of his designs, at a far shorter crossing, upstream. The cost, it seems, has grown from an initial €20 million to an estimated €38 million. You all know the formula. When you want a builder to do something in the house, take the estimate and double it and you get something like the real figure.

It’s the same with cities. Whatever needs doing will always cost more than they tell you it will. But usually it’s because they haven’t factored in all the possibilities. With this bridge it seems they have. Not only is it to have four lanes for traffic but space for a possible Luas line as well, even though there is no Luas line planned for the area yet. There will also be pedestrian and cycle lanes. All in all a bridge for all of us to use with ease comfort and space. And just in case a ship wants to go upstream of it, the whole thing will pivot to let it pass. In other words, somebody or possibly some group of planners have thought long and hard and decided exactly what will be needed, not just for the next few years, but into the foreseeable future and then planned for it.

And then the panic starts. The price has risen. Then the cost of building, steel, workers, tea and sandwiches and any other possible excuse will be used to talk down the price or the design or worse still, cancel the whole thing. And then, in 20 years time, when the gridlock of the Dublin streets has finally claimed its first victim of ‘starvation by traffic jam’, someone in the City Council will say: “Let’s build a bridge and wouldn’t it have been better to have done it 20 years ago when prices were cheaper?”

It’s a rare thing for any politician to plan for anything more than five years ahead; that being the gap between their being elected and the next time they will have to face the electorate. Long-term planning is something usually done by civil servants and undone by politicians who cut expenditure to impress the voters with their fiscal rectitude, because where grandiose ideas may get votes, long-term cost doesn’t. But where such expenditure is all that lies between us and transport stagnation, spending, however much it might hurt, is what we must face.

We live in a country that is growing rapidly. In the first 50 years of this State we cut back on practically everything that would get us moving. We axed a perfectly good rail network which, next to their parliamentary and judicial system and their architecture, was the best thing perfidious Albion left us.
We failed for far too many years to invest in our roads and failed even to recognise where those roads may need to be created. We have never recognised that public transport and the movement of people around our cities and country is a necessity, not a luxury. Public transport should not be expected to break even, much less make a profit. It is an expense we all should bear in order for the nation to work efficiently.

All of our major cities are dissected by a river – the Liffey, Lee, Shannon and Corrib. Indeed, Galway has the addition of a lake as well as a river and Cork has two branches of the Lee. Whatever about the other cities, and I am sure it is as true of them with their rivers, the Liffey is the single biggest traffic obstacle in the city of Dublin. Traffic must either run beside it, across it, or eventually, when the M50 is widened and the tunnel complete, around it. Therefore any progress we can make in bridging it must be grasped with both hands and quickly. And don’t count the cost in euro, count it in comfort, efficiency and progress. Otherwise they’ll use the same excuse to block the Metro as well.

Originally posted by GregF
It would be very sad if Calatrava’s bridge is not built.

Don’t get me wrong, I dearly hope that it is built as well. While the design is generic, I think the bridge still somehow seems unique and right for the docklands.

And I also hope the chunky road element will not detract from the overall lightness of the design, as graham was also saying. The article above says there’s going to be four traffic lanes, two Luas lanes and cycle and pedestrian lanes, so it’s a bit worrying…

from the bottom of this article….
http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/ireland/2004/0802/1008849953HM3LIFFEYBUS.html

Meanwhile, the superstructure for the new Macken Street Bridge is currently being built in Poland and will be carried up on pontoons to its location next December. Last week it was reported that rising costs of the complex steel structure might force a review of the project which was originally opposed by local residents.

Que?

I think thats a mistake. the Macken Street bridge announcement only asks for expressions of interest, Its not been awarded yet and can’t possibly be in manufacturing. This must refer to the pedestrian bridge which is currently being built as I heard a rumour that this was to be delivered by pontoon.

On Luas crossing Macken Street Bridge theres an issue with the overhead power as there would need to be a gantry on each end with an opening mechanism for the cables. I’ve seen this in Holland where there are opening bridges for Trams in the Hague and Amsterdam, that could really detract from the clean lines of the bridge. I understand the idea is to take two of the four traffic lanes for Luas in future should a line cross the bridge.
JJ

i figured that was the error okay

so the proportions are changin’ eh!! is it just me or does anyone else think the james joyce bridge seems clumsy and not what we expect from a calatrava bridge if compared to most of his others .this one on the other hand does look more like calatrava’s signature style

Does anyone know whats happening with the Calatrava bridge?The Ben Quinn article talks about ‘intentions of interest being sought’ that was nearly a year ago. 🙁

I heard 2007 recently (for planned construction date)

I wonder will this be announced tomorrow?

i liked that proposal on the first page (macken).

Dublin’s Maritime Gateway Beckons

The Samuel Beckett Bridge, Dublin City’s newest bridge, is due to span the maritime gateway to Dublin in 2008.

Beckett Bridge, near Macken Street in the Dublin Docklands, will have four traffic lanes with cycle tracks and footpaths on either side of the bridge, while being capable of opening to accommodate maritime traffic.

This landmark structure, of unique character, will have a curved profile leaning northwards resulting in a dramatic shape giving the appearance of a harp lying on it’s side.

Designed by the internationally acclaimed Santiago Calatrava Valls, who also designed the James Joyce Bridge, Beckett Bridge will be constructed by Graham Hollandia Joint Venture. Graham Construction have carried out a number of major projects including Taney Bridge in Dundrum while Hollandia have completed a number of high profile works including London Eye.

The total cost of the project is estimated at €47 million, which will also include a major upgrade of the approach roads. With onsite construction starting within weeks it is estimated the project will be due for completion in September 2008.

In celebrating Beckett’s centenary year, Mr. John O’Donoghue T.D., Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism, welcomed the decision by Dublin City Council to name the new Calatrava-designed bridge after Dublin’s own Samuel Beckett. Now Dublin has the privilege of acknowledging and honouring yet another one of the immortals of world literature.

For further information please telephone Dublin City Council’s Press Office at 2222170 or 086 8150010 or email info@dublincity.ie

Notes to Editors

The bridge will be a cable-stayed, steel box girder structure with a span of 120 metres between north and south quay walls. An asymmetric shape will be provided through the positioning of the pylon outside the navigation channel at a point approximately 28 metres from the south quay.

More….

The steel cable-stay pylon will have a curved profile leaning northward to a point 46 metres above water level and as a result of this dramatic shape the bridge will have the appearance of a harp lying on it’s side.

Beckett Bridge will be capable of opening through an angle of 90 degrees, which will accommodate marine traffic to the section of the river upstream of the proposed bridge site. This will be achieved through a rotational mechanism housed in the base of the pylon.

The central axis of the bridge is aligned with Guild Street on the northern side of the River Liffey and it will cross the river at right angles to connect with Sir John Rogerson’s Quay at a location approximately 70 meters west of Cardiff Lane.

Environmental improvement works will be carried out in conjunction with the bridgeworks on Macken Street, Cardiff Lane, Guild Street and Seville Place.

The project is being funded by the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, the Dublin Docklands Development Authority and from Dublin City Council’s own resources

So an official completion date has been announced

I was beginning to wonder if we would ever see this project come on. I wonder will the Mahon Bridge be tackled at the same time (the section of Pearse Street at Grand Canal Dock)

That is a good question the existing bridge over the basin will be very unhip in comparison to its newer surroundings.

I wonder will the construction of the Macken St bridge be a bit smoother than the last one Calatrava did in Dublin that took an intervention from John Burns of the Sunday Times to get the project completed.

How do you mean TP?

https://archiseek.com/content/showthread.php?t=2003

***** Update *****

Macken Street Bridge now completed 2 years ahead of schedule

http://www.iarnrodeireann.ie/projects/pdf/IE_Station_Map_b.pdf

@asdasd wrote:

So what is all that stuff behind the bridge in the Photoshop montage? Not there now, is it?

The new developments at Spencer dock?
What is the pole like structure?

Citibank HQ, North Wall – Designed by Scott Tallon Walker.

A&L Goodbody Stockbrokers, North Wall – Designed by Scott Tallon Walker.

AIG Insurances House, North Wall – Designed by Murray O’Laoire Architects.

And that “pole” is a McNamara Construction tower crane taking at an angle where the jib is north-west facing so it looks in line with the stem.

I think it (the slender structure) is also a piece of photoshop https://archiseek.com/content/showpost.php?p=25846&postcount=4

inserted to give some perspective as to the bridges limited height in comparision to some of the taller buildings that were proposed a short time before this scheme was proposed.

Any visable progress on this?

Yeah can’t wait to see this bridge flanked by Point Village Tower and U2 Tower. Wish they’d hurry up and build them!

I work right beside the proposed location and I can confirm that there is absolutely no sign of any work going on. I’ll post here as soon as I see anything.

Always depresses me how long it takes things to get built in this country. “It’ll create more traffic on Pearse St!” “It’ll cause noise pollution!” “I won’t be able to see the sea from my bedroom!” “t’ll cast a shadow on the snozberry bush!”

@The Denouncer wrote:

Always depresses me how long it takes things to get built in this country. “It’ll create more traffic on Pearse St!” “It’ll cause noise pollution!” “I won’t be able to see the sea from my bedroom!” “t’ll cast a shadow on the snozberry bush!”

If theres a snozberry bush there then your screwed – its listed as a class 1 endangered species in the Habitats Directive

Quite likely that ther are some snozzes nesting in the area or a t least commuting through the area – which (obvously) is nearly as significent.

It would cost millions to recreate a new habitat even if permitted. You shouldn’t have mentioned it.

I wonder how the ESB would feel about a row of snozzery bushes planted outside their HQ..

Could it be ???

There are two ships docked at the site of the Calatrava (Beckett) bridge laiden with foundation stone. Seemingly up from Arklow (Roadstone send their stuff from there for projects along the east coast).

The rocks are pretty big (a few tonnes each ?) so could be a bit much for building foundations (?). Could the beginning of our bridge be iminent ?

No, I think they’re to create a proper, DCC-approved rockery for the snozberry bushes.

@PVC King wrote:

So an official completion date has been announced

Where in God’s name is this bridge ?

Originally posted by Rusty Cogs
Where in God’s name is this bridge ?

I know, I can’t wait to see it built. When exactly is work starting on it?

There was a public notice in the back of the IT yesterday Wed 17th, of DCC’s Application for a Foreshore Licence

“for permission to occupy an area of the foreshore in the River Liffey for the purpose of constructing a new bridge linking Guild Street to Macken Street”

Another step slightly closer

Article in Saturday’s Times said that construction is due to begin “next month”.
Don’t hold your breath…

I just saw what looks like bridge building going on there!
On the southside, by the Ferryman…

Yes, there is now a platform located at about the point on the river where the main support appears to be, in the montage.
They have been drilling there for the past few days. They are either driving a pile or maybe the DDDA have decided to get into the oil exploration business:)
Of course it might be preliminary ground investigation before they start pile driving.

I’ll ask one of the hardhat people on site next week!

I’ve been looking out at this for the past couple of weeks wondering what they were up to. They seem to be boring in to the river bed and extracting samples. They have a load of little wooden boxes to hold the samples outlining their position and depth. Each one about 150cm long like those ice samples you see in the artic to monitor climate change. Anyhow, I guess they have to establish the composition of the river bed before they can design the ‘platforms’ the bridge will rest upon.

I was talking to a couple of workers down there a few days ago.

They’re a firm that are doing exploratory work on the status of the river bed, etc. Once this has been done, Mr C. and his bridge-building team can get cracking.

At the time I was passing, the river bed was about 11 metres below the surface at that point (and at that time of day), according to the marks on their little platform. (I’d guess that was about 13-14 metres below the level of the road at the location of the platform (ca. the Ferryman). They told me there was then about another 5-6 metres of silt and boulder clay below this, before they were hitting bedrock.

It could all be some time yet before the bridge is built.

Isn’t this what the victorian cast Iron contraption on Jon Rog Quay was designed for?riverbed investigation?- Should be pressed back into commission to save a few quid:)

A nice idea tommyt.:) Though today’s health and safety regulations might not allow it.:(

http://www.dublinport.ie/about-dublin-port/history/

*cough*

look familiar?

http://www.arcspace.com/architects/calatrava/pm/pm.html

*cough*

Yep, just curve the cable stay pylon slightly and bingo, its his Dublin proposal.
Sure there’s a replica of the james joyce job floating around too …

@Peter FitzPatrick wrote:

Sure there’s a replica of the james joyce job floating around too …

An earlier version is here in Valencia. Albeit with one span.

There’s a piece in the IT today which states the bridge should be completed withing 18 months. That’s far better than the 30 month guide the DDDA gave me a couple of months back. There’s a fair bit of activity going on at the moment anyway.

Hurray!

……..about time too!

@GregF wrote:

Hurray!

……..about time too!

Insert joke about “waiting for beckett” here

good one 😀

CALATRAVA: Well? Shall we build?

DCC: Yes, let’s build.

They do not build.

Anyone see the condition of the James Joyce Bridge. The lights have been out for the last several months and the whole thing looks neglected. It also took a couple of years to replace 2 broken glass panels. This is really bad maintenance. The Council cannot blame underfunding now, with the revenues it has from the bin tax, etc….

How’s construction on this coming along?

Forgive my use of less than technical language but there’s two stumpy things in the Liffey where the bridge is due to go. That aside, I dunno 😀

the Liffey’s probably too good for them, but it’s a start.

@GregF wrote:

Anyone see the condition of the James Joyce Bridge. The lights have been out for the last several months and the whole thing looks neglected. It also took a couple of years to replace 2 broken glass panels. This is really bad maintenance. The Council cannot blame underfunding now, with the revenues it has from the bin tax, etc….

I see that the lights on the James Joyce bridge are fully working again. Looks good all lit up again at night.

Who Moved the Samuel Beckett Bridge 70m west? When? And Why?

See http://dublin.iwai.ie/docs/news.html#Macken

The Samuel Beckett bridge was originally referred to as the Macken St. bridge since it connected Cardiff Lane (a continuation of Macken St.) on the south quays to Guild St. on the north.
Posters on this forum have referred to the on-going work which started in Autumn 2007 to construct the pier on which the bridge will swing.

Nobody seems to have referred to the fact that the bridge has moved!

It originally crossed the river at an angle linking Guild St. to Cardiff Lane/Macken St ., (think junction at the Ferryman pub).
Now it takes a direct line across the river terminating at the warehouse beside O2’s building on Sir John Rogerson’s Quay, approximately 70m west of the Ferryman.

On the surface, this doesn’t make sense.

From an aesthetic perspective, one wonders what the impact on Calatrava’s original design will be, since the bridge will now be significantly shorter.

What will be the impact from a traffic perspective?

The Docklands website and all documents I can find still claims the bridge as linking Macken St. to Guild St.

The bridge was always intended to cross the river perpendicular to the quay walls. This article from 2000 describes it in exactly the position it is currently being built:

http://archives.tcm.ie/businesspost/2000/07/02/story864745928.asp

“The bridge will span the 120 metres between the north and south quays at right angles from Guild Street on the northern side to 70 metres west of Cardiff Lane on Sir John Rogerson’s Quay.”

In fact, the council asked Calatrava to design a bridge at a slant to the river; he rejected this on aesthetic grounds and they were persuaded it would look dumb.

Thanks for the correction Andrew. All I can conclude is that the DDDA documents are entirely misleading.

I don’t get the Calatrava hero worship. At this stage, Calatrava bridges are as ubiquitous as McDonalds and about as interesting; for some reason I’m reminded of the golden arches everytime I see a Calatrava bridge :p

Yet they still seem to feature on every urban-renewal shopping list in the world. You can see “a Calatrava” anywhere in the world. So why bother with a second one in Dublin? (I don’t even like the first one – it’s been poorly maintained and provides neither contrast nor sympathy for its setting). Does anyone think anyone anywhere outside of Dublin will notice or be interested in another Calatrava bridge?

New hording posters have gone up at the south side of the bridge works and we have a new completion date, 2010 😮 .

2010…it’s not that big a bridge.. I thought we were gonna get it soon,
Again, this was in Pat Liddy’s book about a decade ago so how in the name of all that is holy is this not up yet?

Valid point.According to the first post on this thread , this project went to tender in July 2004. Four years before they even get to start on a feckin bridge. Says it all..

A bridge linking Cardiff Lane and Guild Street was proposed by Patrick Abercrombie in 1941:
http://ireland.archiseek.com/buildings_ireland/dublin/city_development/abercrombie_1941/1newbridge1.html

The alternative proposal was basically the East Link, but a completely different approach to it was built rather than bridging the Dodder and Grand Canal.

http://www.dublindocklands.ie/index.jsp?pID=218&nID=297
Docklands website now says 2009

http://www.spencerdock.ie/transport/under_way/samuel_beckett_bridge
Spencer dock website says late 2008/ early 2009

to look at it, you would say it’s half finished. One would wonder what the GD hold up is

@cgcsb wrote:

One would wonder what the GD hold up is

Ireland Syndrome.

A rather sever case of

A rather sever case of

No, this would be more a typical case :rolleyes:

Heard today that the whole project has been frozen. They were certainly taking their time. :confused:

What?! Are you sure? Whole plans for traffic on O’Cnnell Street, College Gn. etc. are waiting on that bridge ..

@Rusty Cogs wrote:

Heard today that the whole project has been frozen. They were certainly taking their time. :confused:

Where did you hear this? :s

Not an official source. Bumped in to an old friend who laughed when he saw me and said ‘I hear your bridge is been scraped’ (as I’d been moaning about it long enough). They are still working on it at the moment but there seems to be little to no progress TBH. The 2011 completion date was a bit of a joke anyway considering the structure itself was being fabricated off-site.

Are you sure he wasn’t having a laugh with you?

And is this person in a position to know about the bridge?

No there was a piece in the Sunday Times (which seems to be turning into a glorified mail on Sunday – defo not the paper it once was) impling that the Bridge wasn’t going to happen but with no proof to back it up. That’s probably where your mate heard it from

I wonder are they mixing it up with the pedestrian bridge proposed down there. I cant see Mackin being shelved..its essential and surely must be under construction (the superstructure I mean).

Probably, it was a piece that lumped it in with a load of Celtic tiger projects (U2 tower, watchtower et al) which they said won’t happen ever. Sloppy journalism, the only suprise is they didn’t mention Declan Ganley and Libertas (who they seem to be in love with)

Will they ever hurry up with the Macken Street bridge pleeze!

I dont know if this is progress, but it is since I last saw it. Zoomed camera phone at night, so crap, but here you can see the pylon, behind the steel bobber. I couldnt get a better angle without some effort:rolleyes:

howya, this is on my cycle home and yes, what appears to be a bridge pier is now resting in the river

Seen it yesterday and there does appear to be some progress 🙂

The DDDA website says that it’s currently under construction……

http://www.dublindocklands.ie/index.jsp?p=327&n=514&a=1015

I’ve seen the pier in the river. It looks as if it might be the pivot on which the bridge will rotate to open and close.

ah yes Greg, that makes more sense – it’s circular in shape

Was passing by tonight and they’ve lifted it into place!:

Just joking :D:D

originally delayed due to DCC reluctant to bear cost.
construction slow due to critical need for bridge pivot pier to be exactly right.

Passed by yesterday and got a couple of pics

It’s great to finally see some progress, hopefully the next phase will be quicker and we’ll see a bridge span soon…

Looks like there will be some visibly progressive work done over the next few weeks. Our workplace which is in the area got notification yesterday about the closure of the junction of the Northside quay and Guild St to facilitate major works for the bridge’s northern side (raising of road to meet bridge etc) over Easter weekend and subsequent weeks.

2011 folks, don’t throw your ferry tickets away just yet.

Wasn’t it 2010?
I’m also glad to see progress on this, and have also been eagerly watching the work on the small building on the south bank… Looks like a 50’s american trailer, without the chrome, and I like the copper roof. Wonder what it will be used for, is it some kind of control place for the bridge opening or something entirely different?

I suppose it’s a wonder they haven’t abandoned it given the present credit crunch and state of financial affairs.

Despite sinage to the contrary it was always 2011. Whether engineering or cash flow has turned it into such a strung out project is another question.

@Rusty Cogs wrote:

Despite sinage to the contrary it was always 2011. Whether engineering or cash flow has turned it into such a strung out project is another question.

How could it possibly be 2011 :confused:.

I certainly appears that the work on quays and the support in the river are nearly finished, I can’t see how it could take until even the end of this year before the main bridge appears?

Where do you get your 2011 date Rusty?

@JoePublic wrote:

How could it possibly be 2011 :confused:.

I certainly appears that the work on quays and the support in the river are nearly finished, I can’t see how it could take until even the end of this year before the main bridge appears?

Where do you get your 2011 date Rusty?

I asked Paul Maloney (DDDA Chief Executive)

Ok, I can now present the visual evidence of the bridge under construction in Holland – it is to be transported over on the 2nd or 3rd of May according to local papers there and posters on a Dutch forum

Oh yeah it exists alright!

“- Transportation date on 2 or 3 May (from the yard)
– In May It will be placed on the concrete column in the river
– Completed in November 2009. Then it also gets its official name: Samuell Beckett Bridge”

😀

is this for real? do you have a link?

Can’t post the link as it is a forum link. Trust me – that IS the bridge.

So we’re back to 2009. That makes sense if it shows up here in May – because then it could not possibly take until 2011 to finish.

Are they sure this is a Calatrava!

. . . . and they didn’t just buy it from some bloke at the airport

Given the current trend towards corporate sponsorship of new constructions (O2, Aviva), do you think Viagra would be interested in this one? Those cables could be a little tauter…

excellent news. How tall is the bridge? will it be taller than the conference centre?

looks great who needs big man when we’ve got this big harp

Good research Darkman, really good photos and it’s great to see it in the making. Given the economic downturn etc…I thought this project might have been abandoned too. It will look superb down the docks beside the NCC. Help break up the awful visual monotony.

A harp on it’s side, an apt emblem. I wonder if ye’d you get a tune outta those chords, if ye struck them.

@kefu wrote:

48 metres high. A bit higher than the conference centre, I would think.
Certainly, it would appear to be a far more impressive structure than the James Joyce bridge, which continues to suffer from lack of maintenance and a sense of being overblown for the job it has to do.

wow so a 48 meter high suspension bridge will actually be the tallest and most dominant feature in the area. It’s a shame really that there’s no buildings to rival it. It must be lonely at the top.

@kefu wrote:

Certainly, it would appear to be a far more impressive structure than the James Joyce bridge, which continues to suffer from lack of maintenance and a sense of being overblown for the job it has to do.

+1!

Really quite impressive & will make a big impact, i thought the harp concept was a load of nonsense initially but has translated well.

‘… it is new-strung and will be heard’ – or at least walked-on! A metaphor for our times. If I were you lot, I’d ask why it’s being fabricated in NL rather than IRL.

Thats what i was going to say Buy Irish

enough with the nativism; we’ll erect their pre-fabricated steel, they’ll buy our viagra, it’s how trade works.

Is it not a Northern Ireland contractor doing the work

Well, its being built in rotterdam.

There are more pictures available on the SkyscraperCity forum, looks very well. Navigate to the UK/Ireland section.

Umm, what is with the retarded obscuring of links, is there a charter somewhere I am missing???

If I recall correctly from the statement issued by the senior DCC planning offical at the recent public convening of the Special Policy Committee, the bridge will not be open until mid-2010.

Looks great though. Glad to see the black sheathing yokeamabobs at the junction of the cables and the arm disappear in later photographs.

@Pot Noodle wrote:

Is it not a Northern Ireland contractor doing the work

The Contractors are Grahams- Same people who built the Luas William Dargan Bridge in Dundrum

Just saw the bridge moving on Netherlands TV, NOS Journall, it was the final item given what happened yesterday.
http://www.nos.nl/nos/voorpagina/

http://player.nos.nl/index.php/media/play/tcmid/tcm:5-511715/

better link.

lets hope it fits 😉

thanks for link.

Google translation of the caption:

A huge bridge in its entirety from the Netherlands to Ireland shipped. The bridge is still in Krimpen aan de IJssel, the company Hollandia that the bridge is built. Sunday leaves the colossus of the sea to Dublin. Reporter Bart Kamphuis looks forward to an ingenious operation.

The pontoon about to take it to sea

One thing I notice is that the deck is very wide on the bridge – you could probrably fit 3 vehicle lanes each way on it and still have room.

nice wide cycle and footways so… when will it dock? that’d be worth seeing

Don’t know when it will get here but it is going tomorrow so how many days does it take to get here from Holland:confused: It will arrive in May some time. That is all I know. I don’t think we will miss it when it appears;)

Nice looking bridge,knowing are luck it’ll end up on the bottom of the Irish sea!Think i’ll check out the weather forecast!!

It’s already on the boat. Probrably already left.

According to the NOS report it travels to Rotterdam on Sunday, and then weather permitting it will be a six day voyage to Dublin. (I didn’t use Google Translation, lol.)

@darkman wrote:

One thing I notice is that the deck is very wide on the bridge – you could probrably fit 3 vehicle lanes each way on it and still have room.

think it was supposed to be four lanes, two traffic lanes, two bus, no ?

On RTE now …

http://www.rte.ie/news/2009/0504/liffeybridge.html

expected to arrive May 9th, 4 traffic lanes, two pedestrian.

@Peter Fitz wrote:

think it was supposed to be four lanes, two traffic lanes, two bus, no ?

The video appears to show grooves for tramlines.

There’s a whole discussion on another forum about whether there are tram tracks on the bridge or not. It seems some old Luas plans did include crossing this bridge. But current plans for the red and green lines certainly don’t seem to involve this bridge at all.

First sections of the bridge seem to have arrived in the Liffey today. Looks like the support to fit into the concrete structure that’s already there

The East Link will be closed on Sunday night, apparently – presumably to take the new bridge through it?

that would make sense, saturday is the 9th – the due date reported by RTE.

From AA Roadwatch:

*ADVANCED WARNING* The East Link toll bridge will be closed on Sunday 10th May between 11pm until 4am Monday 11th approx. This is to accommodate the new Samuel Beckett Bridge which is being shipped up the Liffey. Motorists and pedestrians will have to take an alternative route.

@walzer wrote:

From AA Roadwatch:

Motorists and pedestrians will have to take an alternative route.

Cyclists, however, will be unaffected.*

*Because they’re already not supposed to use the East Link.:rolleyes:

Aww, dont fret…you’ll soon have a spanking new bridge to play on!

@Peter Fitz wrote:

think it was supposed to be four lanes, two traffic lanes, two bus, no ?

@Peter Fitz wrote:

expected to arrive May 9th, 4 traffic lanes, two pedestrian.

🙁

I was really just commenting on the attitude of AA Roadwatch. They ask drivers to be nice to cyclists when it’s windy, and Nicola Hudson and Conor Faughnan even cycle themselves, but sometimes the institutional ignorance still bubbles to the surface…

This used to be my playground
This used to be our pride and joy
This used to be the place we ran to
That no one in the world could dare destroy

🙂

I’m presuming that those ‘pedestrian lanes’ include properly segregated space for cyclists !!! or are they expecting cyclists to engage in the usual battle for space with dublin bus?

looking forward to it arriving, will make quite an impact down there with its arcing spur said to be as high as, you guessed it, liberty hall !

ctesiphon likes Madonner, ctesiphon likes Madonner

I too am looking forward to the bridge’s arrival. It doesn’t look 48m from those pics above.

It will make a big impact on the skyline, looking out towards the sea. Perhaps it could take over from the spire as an icon of Dublin?

The new bridge in waterford is already appearing on Waterford City Council logos, so I don’t see why not

@walzer wrote:

It will make a big impact on the skyline, looking out towards the sea. Perhaps it could take over from the spire as an icon of Dublin?

Its a blownup version of the harp at the Ritz Carlton?
Strings of water would be nicer…

[ATTACH]9544[/ATTACH]

The bridge en route. Arriving Tuesday night

needs dublin traffic pshopped onto it

due to dock shortly east of the east-link bridge, and to pass through during high tide tomorrow morning.

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2009/0511/breaking24.htm

You can follow it here (it’s on board the Rt Magic)

http://www.shipais.com/showship.php?mmsi=245464000

Currently alongside the North Bull wall.

@Rusty Cogs wrote:

You can follow it here (it’s on board the Rt Magic)

http://www.shipais.com/showship.php?mmsi=245464000

Currently alongside the North Bull wall.

My Monday morning productivity hates you for posting that link. 😀

Its in !

well, a fairly accurate render in any case 😉

There just parking her up down there at the moment (about half a mile beyond the East Link bridge). You can see the harp shape if you look down the Liffey. The next nighttime high tide is at 12.54am. A decent camera required to capture it’s spooky entrance to the city.

@Rusty Cogs wrote:

There just parking her up down there at the moment

Presumably every lockhard in the city is giving advice? “G’wan missus, yid get a bleedin’ bus in there!’ “I’ll look after it for ya.”

yep, apparently it is actually coming in on the next high tide tonight, not tomorrow as the times said*

*of course if i thought about it, i’d realise that the times never gets anything wrong and 12.54am can of course be correctly described as ‘tomorrow morning’.

@ctesiphon wrote:

Presumably every lockhard in the city is giving advice? “G’wan missus, yid get a bleedin’ bus in there!’ “I’ll look after it for ya.”

or as my father in law would say whenever a female sucessfully completes a manoeuvre, with slightly raised brow …

‘you handled that beautifully’

🙂

This is a nice looking bridge.

So now that the bridge is finally here…

Does anyone know what the traffic management plans will be for potential bridge users? It becomes an obvious alternative route from the east end of Pearse Street to the Five Lamps and vice versa. I presume DCC will change traffic light priorities to enable this route to be convenient, or will Guild Street/Seville Place be protected from too much through traffic?

ah sure we can deal with that when it’s open

Its here, looks like a wierd tall ship sitting there like that. I hear they are going to moor it to the south quay wall a bit downstream from its final position for the next while.

Nice show here, coming past the navigation beacon
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2009/0511/breaking24.htm

Howld on to yer cameras now lads –

*MAIN TRAFFIC* * The closure that was due to take place tonight at the East Link toll bridge has been POSTPONED due to high winds forecasted. The closure was due to take place to accommodate the moving of the new Samuel Beckett Bridge. It is yet to be decided when the closure will now take place. * Traffic is moving well at this stage around the city and on the M50. * Bear in mind that Eric Clapton performs at The O2 this evening. Expect delays around the venue after the concert

So says the AA

Gas had the sea pirates robbed it…… well no, not really.

But it’s great that it has finally arrived. Must ramble down to have a look at it.

Went down this evening. You can’t really get a great view of it as it’s docked on the north port side so you’re looking at it from behind the Ringsend boat club or from further up river. Might as well wait for the wind to die down. The thing is going to be moored on Sir John Rogersons Quay for all to stare at long enough.

I have to say, there was an awful lot of fannying around on the quays over the last two plus years. Now the thing is here it seems a shame it’s going to be next year before it’s in place and open.

excellent picture – The Irish Times – gives you a real idea of the scale of this – it’s a big bridge.

The Samuel Beckett bridge delayed and not even one waiting for Godot joke, shame on you all. Must try harder.

Perhaps we should take the barge on a nationwide tour first as part of balanced regional development.

@Rusty Cogs wrote:

I have to say, there was an awful lot of fannying around on the quays over the last two plus years. Now the thing is here it seems a shame it’s going to be next year before it’s in place and open.

Apparently it will be open in November.

@dc3 wrote:

The Samuel Beckett bridge delayed and not even one waiting for Godot joke, shame on you all. Must try harder.

Perhaps we should take the barge on a nationwide tour first as part of balanced regional development.

Haha!

@Peter Fitz wrote:

Its in !

well, a fairly accurate render in any case 😉

Good work Peter. Looks great.

yeah liked to see the before and after traffic plans

there larger wires at the back ruin the harp look a bit

ah can’t claim any credit unfortunately morlan, its actually from DCC, not sure where they got it from !

Due up the Liffey this afternoon according to AA Roadwatch

http://www.aaroadwatch.ie/dublin/traffic.asp

East link closed from 2pm – 3.30pm.

http://www.thedailystuff.ie/beckettbridgearrival.html

Its through the east link!!…see link to photos above

Not my photos by the way, dont want to take credit for other peoples good work!

Here it comes!!

(gotta hate the iPhone camera for that second one!)

Great pictures. It looks great! Exciting stuff.

Ah here’s a better one! Oh joy for colleagues with decent cameras!

More updates from http://www.thedailystuff.ie/beckettbridgearrival.html, thanks for that link shed !

Woah, that link is amazing, some great close-ups there! Maxing out on bridge porn today, guys! 😀

fantastic stuff the new nick name will be coming for it dare i call it [the drunk on the harp]

Great photos, keep em coming.

@lonkey wrote:

fantastic stuff the new nick name will be coming for it dare i call it [the drunk on the harp]

get your coat

ffs

its now crept in to the ncc webcam shot…

http://www.sisk.ie/sisk/sisk/www/default.asp?magpage=25&id=575&sector_id=1&wid=2

another good shot from http://www.thedailystuff.ie

You can even see a bit of it from the CCD webcam 😛

http://www.sisk.ie/sisk/sisk/www/default.asp?magpage=25&id=575&sector_id=1&wid=2

Some more photos from today up over here.

It was a great spectacle to see it come in!

Wow, it looks great!

So are we offering odds on who is going to cut the ribbon or smash the champagne?

@missarchi wrote:

So are we offering odds on who is going to cut the ribbon or smash the champagne?

Opening delayed until 2011 to allow our newly elected , glorious city mayor Bertie to do the honours. Sean Haughey, who will be vice-mayor and have led a hugely successful campaign to get a plebiscite passed on the same day of the mayoral election will have secured a name change in memory of his dear old daddy.

Chillingly believable. 😮

I’m going to have nightmares now.

There are 3 awards when this bridge opens…

first one to ride a bike across it?
first person to drive across it?
First child to jump of it?

How many days before it’s tagged?

mabye the french spider man will try and climb it with suction caps?:D

or someone might do an in de anna jones/ me tarzan you jane

@Paul Clerkin wrote:

How many days before it’s tagged?

…the lyre over the mire…?

@DOC wrote:

…the lyre over the mire…?

The Mack in the Krapp??

The log over the bog? 😀

the fog and the wog?

what’s all this!

The Sam Required?

If we could move the red light district down there, the hookers could become the harpies

some good ones there. The drunk on the harp must of fell into the liffey

More photos please.

Actually the spike was the last time anything lost its official name, I have never heard an alternative name for the Joyce or O’Casey bridges used in normal discussion. I am sure this will be either the Beckett Bridge or the Macken St. Bridge or the Guild St Bridge.

bridges don’t get names, only monuments…

Well the Capel St Bridge isn’t called by its proper name; the local habit of renaming things goes beyond the now tiresome rhyming monument names, I am sure Hapenny Bridge was a vulgar name too.

I prefer Macken Street bridge name…but then I’m a south-sider

@SunnyDub wrote:

I prefer Macken Street bridge name…but then I’m a south-sider

As I’ve already stated ,you even number hogging steamers it’s gonna be the HAUGHEY FAMILY MEMORIAL PSEUDO HARP THOROUGHFARE TO GAELDOM. It will speed all bona fide childer of erin tothe heart of Hibernia, decreasing the time proper god- fearing dwellers of D3,5 and 13 have to spend in Babylonian D2 and 4. Hopefully our progeny won’t pick up that stoopid 46A drawl if they can be spirited out of the region in a more efficient manner to feis ceoil in Gorey and the like.
De bleedin’ Dubs will need one less slash stop as the coaches from Parnell Park make it to witness the hockeyin’ of Loch Garman in next year’s Leinster championship1st round. Wurth 80 mill of tax payers’ moolah any day.

The Celtic Tiger Memorial Bridge? This thing was green-lit in 1998 or 1999 so it’s only fitting.

@tommyt wrote:

As I’ve already stated ,you even number hogging steamers it’s gonna be the HAUGHEY FAMILY MEMORIAL PSEUDO HARP THOROUGHFARE TO GAELDOM. It will speed all bona fide childer of erin tothe heart of Hibernia, decreasing the time proper god- fearing dwellers of D3,5 and 13 have to spend in Babylonian D2 and 4. Hopefully our progeny won’t pick up that stoopid 46A drawl if they can be spirited out of the region in a more efficient manner to feis ceoil in Gorey and the like.
De bleedin’ Dubs will need one less slash stop as the coaches from Parnell Park make it to witness the hockeyin’ of Loch Garman in next year’s Leinster championship1st round. Wurth 80 mill of tax payers’ moolah any day.

:D:D written as only a true nartcider could!!

Seriously good piece of investment the lack of linkage of the East Link to Hannover Quay and the upper reaches of JR Quay meant that the only credible access provision between North and South Docklands was to create a road / tram link at this point. Lets not in this economic slowdown forget what the object was and will be again i.e. to create two high density mixed use districts one around JR Quay / Grand Canal Basin which is substantially complete and secondly another in the upper end of North Wall Quay linking back towards East Wall Road.

I don’t regard this as a monumnent I regard it as physical infrastructure and credit is due for actually designing a bridge that compliments its surroundingss unlike the 3 of the 4 three road crossings last build which excluding the James Joyce bridge have engineering qualities at best.

Hopefully its delivery will get the 46A brigade to consider the area North of the river which has moved a long way from its perception that the entire area was the borough of Sherrif St and that the proper regeneration of the area can be extended.

was in the area today, not the best day but here’s few more pics

whats the fee on this thing?

54

Wow, the bridge is now on its axis and the barge and pontoons have been removed – we have free-standing bridge! Now that was quick, didn’t expect it to happen quite that fast, although there’s still loads to do…

How did they do it?

@notjim wrote:

How did they do it?

‘they’ partly slid de bridge onto a 2nd barge and sailed it across on a high tide so it straddled the pivot. then…………..with a big hammer and a jemmy and using the outgoing tide and partly by sinking the barges with ballast, it was lowered……..and bob’s your uncle. or your auntie (depending on your orientation………..)

You’ve got an auntie called Bob!!:D

It looks so delicately balanced now. Beautiful.

http://www.thedailystuff.ie/beckettbridgearrival.html

@marmajam wrote:

‘they’ partly slid de bridge onto a 2nd barge and sailed it across on a high tide so it straddled the pivot. then…………..with a big hammer and a jemmy and using the outgoing tide and partly by sinking the barges with ballast, it was lowered……..and bob’s your uncle. or your auntie (depending on your orientation………..)

Thanks.

It’ll be a bit of a monolith when it’s all done. The NCC is the only signiature building in the area really. And nothing over 45m really

ah i thought you meant it was in it’s final position, not merely on the axis. Went past tonight in my glorious naivety and miscomprehension and saw it facing the same way and was disappointed…. ah right…

@adhoc wrote:

It looks so delicately balanced now. Beautiful.

http://www.thedailystuff.ie/beckettbridgearrival.html

Yep, so beautifully balanced that the tip was dipping into the river this morning 😀 Must post a few pics…

@poukai wrote:

Yep, so beautifully balanced that the tip was dipping into the river this morning 😀 Must post a few pics…

Someone must have slackened the cables!

From DCC’s website:

“Mounting bridge on support pier

Once the bridge is evenly balanced it will be mounted on its pier. Barges at either end of the bridge will support it during this operation. The barges will position the rotation point of the bridge over the central pier at high tide. When the tide comes down the gap between the central pier and the bridge’s rotation point will close. The bridge will be mounted and the barges removed. This is currently scheduled to take place over one day on 20/05/09.

Tensioning of cable stays

The cable stays will again be tensioned to evenly balance the bridge on the pier and ensure that only an axial force will be transferred. These works take place between 20/05/09 and 28/05/09. “

Aw, sure, I know they’re still adjusting it and all that, but it was dead funny to see it like that! It’s fascinating to watch I must say…

@poukai wrote:

Aw, sure, I know they’re still adjusting it and all that, but it was dead funny to see it like that! It’s fascinating to watch I must say…

there just tuning our harp for the harp lady to come and play

Sally O’Brien? and the way she might look at ya?

Will the giant harp lady end up with the giant wire man up the river? Find out next week on Fair City… 😀

Took a stroll down to have a look at the bridge yesterday, and it looked great; really elegant looking, mounted on it’s pivot. Both the bridge and the NCC are great additions that give a bit of visual variety that was badly needed. The docks is kinda coming together. It will make a nice walk from the Grand Canal Basin area with the new Liebeskind theatre down onto the Liffey quays with the new bridge and the NCC. The bridge will look cool at night too when lit up.

@GregF wrote:

The bridge will look cool at night too when lit up.

If the Spire is anything to go by, then 🙁

@Morlan wrote:

If the Spire is anything to go by, then 🙁

True indeed.

Bridge looks fantastic, went down yesterday to see it, very impressed

Some context, as seen from the Seán O’Casey Bridge.

Beautiful form. The ungainly width shall be concealed once in position.

I hope those black yokes vanish.

The enormous concrete pivot pier.

The scene from the north wall, with the receiving junctions being finished off.

I wanted to pop over to the south quay for some close-up detail, but alas, well, there’s no bridge yet.

for those of you interested Calatrava also does underground bridges even if they did run out of money and go gaudish….

http://www.flickr.com/photos/venmus/3429731576/sizes/l/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/paartyaddicted/3373179366/sizes/l/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/minusbaby/7893525/sizes/o/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mir_k/3485247031/sizes/l/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/himmelgelb/2806069591/sizes/o/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/bowtieneck/2558363030/sizes/l/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/glenscott/2924238911/sizes/l/

pyramid scheme

Ooops, look what I found……… http://www.360cities.net/image/view-of-puente-de-la-mujer
:rolleyes:

The height in their docklands is greater with some tall buildings thrown in. Phase 1 looks more like that spot in Liverpool, not so good.

The bridge is now in situ (i.e. in it’s closed position) for anyone with an interest / camera.

I see the new bridge has been rotated to it’s permanent side this morning (linking the north and south quays) and looks very well. I expected the road surface to be flat but there is quite an curve on it but it actually adds to the bridge visually. Whether the current positioning is just a temporary measure and will rotate back parallel to quays for another while during construction, I’m not sure.

ha! previous poster beat me to it by 5 minutes!

from the dailystuff.ie

It looks great doesnt it….a real landmark for the Docklands I think.

Now if only we could sort out the loop line bridge with something as clean.

@Service charge wrote:

Now if only we could sort out the loop line bridge with something as clean.

Saw a design for something much more transparent and inobtrusive. About eight or nine years ago.

The East link bridge now needs to be redevoloped.As a “Gateway” bridge its terrible.I know it was built at a time when the docks were the “docks” an industrial area but now we need something special there.

cycle lanes would be nice there. In fact a full route through Thorncastle Rd to link Ringsend village to the Point Village and the north quays would be very welcome

gotta luv how Graham got his sign on the bridge. 😀

@bigjoe wrote:

gotta luv how Graham got his sign on the bridge. 😀

not just the bridge! retail too…

Couple of weeks ago 🙂

I look at that picture and I imagine a bunch of pirates about to invade Ireland and put up a jolly roger flag on the new bridge… And escape while flying foxing it down the wires

The north and south glass cylinders have a strange connection…

And depending on the scale, that thing on the right is either a nearby seagull or a Klingon bird of prey in the distance. 😀

from the air thanks to via @robinb and the irish coast guard

http://www.flickr.com/photos/r1g2b3/3751945332/in/set-72157621679888789/

@lostexpectation wrote:

from the air thanks to via @robinb and the irish coast guard

http://www.flickr.com/photos/r1g2b3/3751945332/in/set-72157621679888789/

Have to say I am really warming to this bridge, dunno if the function will dim my fondness for the form but it is the best ‘intervention’ in my mental map of Dublin in my lifetime. I had visitors from the basque country last week and was proud to point out something that looks like it will work in rebranding (awful term I know, please frogive me) the east of the city centre. How deeply unimpressed they were (and how deeply indigant was meself) about the pig’s mickey that’s been made of reinventing the docks.

Bit of a height diference it seems! from the indo ..

By Jerome Reilly

Sunday July 26 2009

IT looks, to the casual observer, like a bridge too high. Now elegantly draped across the Liffey, the Samuel Beckett Bridge appears to tower over the quayside roadway on the southside of the river.

The vertiginous drop of more than a metre from bridge to tarmac on Sir John Rogerson’s Quay has some of the few remaining high- flyers in the IFSC wondering if their low-slung sports saloons will survive the trip from docklands to Dalkey.

But the loftiness of the new bridge, due to be opened next year, is part of a cunning plan and not a monumental blunder, Dublin City Council insists.

“The constructed level of the bridge’s south abutment is in accordance with its design levels, which specifically allows for sufficient headroom under the bridge to accommodate marine craft on the river,” project manager John Flanagan explained.

He added that the current construction works will introduce a carefully designed gradual incline between the bridge deck level and existing ground levels. That may sound suspiciously like a ramp, but the council are convinced that drivers will not notice the drop when they leave the bridge.

The 120m bridge, which is 48m high, will link Guild Street on the northside with Sir John Rogerson’s Quay on the southside — west of Cardiff Lane/Macken Street.

Dr Santiago Calatrava Valls, considered one of the world’s great architects, designed the Beckett Bridge. The bridge will have four traffic lanes, cycle tracks and footpaths, and can facilitate bus and light rail in the future.

– Jerome Reilly

@Peter Fitz wrote:

Dr Santiago Calatrava Valls, considered one of the world’s great architects, designed the Beckett Bridge. The bridge will have four traffic lanes, cycle tracks and footpaths, and can facilitate bus and light rail in the future. – Jerome Reilly

Since when have the RPA planned no cables? I’m struggling to see how it will work?

There won’t be any trams going over this bridge.

The design goes back to the ‘Platform for Change’ proposal for a line starting near the docklands station and heading to Lucan via a route that’s was parallel to the grand canal.
Since the RPA have now chosen a different route for a line to Lucan, this line heading over the bridge is dead.

My apologies if none of this is new.

A few things I know about the bridge….

1 So far at least three swans have come to grief on the cables.
2 The Luas rails are not going in though there is provision for them if they change their minds!
3 The surfacing was finished last Sunday! Hooray!
4 There will be two lanes for traffic each side at about 3.25 metres wide and “footpaths” on
both sides.
5 The ends are currently about 2 feet higher than the surrounding road levels.
6 Will try to post pics of surfacing if they come out OK

i think one of the lanes on each side is a bus lane?

My understanding is that, due to load restrictions, the outer lanes cannot take the strain of a bus lane.

The main spans of the bridge have been surfaced with heavy duty mastic asphalt to accept heavy traffic but the outside lanes have not for this very reason.

So…..pedestrians and cycles on the outside buses and others in the main centre spans.

1 The new surfacing going in showing the missing Luas rail on the seaward side of the bridge looking to the South Bank…..
and
2 this is how it was done.

@Blacktop wrote:

My understanding is that, due to load restrictions, the outer lanes cannot take the strain of a bus lane.

You’re joking, right?

yeh jaysus, you have to be joking. I mean, come on…. does that mean buses can’t overtake on the bridge? No you have to be joking. Are heavy trucks banned?

Sure trams are heavier anyway…?

Hang on, I thought there was no plan to take the Luas across this bridge anyway? The pavement work on the south side is making good progress although the road layout is still looking a bit strange with the big slope and the sharp corner off/onto the bridge from SJRQ, but I guess we’ll get used to it.

Can’t wait for the bridge to be finished, finally M&S will be a viable lunch option 😀

the point being poukai that the bridge was constructed with integrated tram tracks, whether trams go across it in the future or not – so surely it can manage the weight of a bus on its outer lanes.

See picture showing (not showing?) the missing Luas rail. (viewed from north end looking south, leaning tower of Guinness behind camera)
The two lanes on each side of the bridge spine (the luas rail lane and the one adjoining it to the left) are for motor traffic. 4 lanes in total
To the outside of these lanes, pedestrian and cycle lanes (footpaths?) on the extreme outside edges of the bridge behind barriers to protect from traffic. (2 in total.)
Hope this helps to clear it up a little.

@Peter Fitz wrote:

the point being poukai that the bridge was constructed with integrated tram tracks, whether trams go across it in the future or not

Oh, right, missed that point…

Ahem.

The southbound carriageway looking north.

The northbound carriageway showing the footpath / cycleway and crash rails going in.

Has this thing got a completion/opening date ?

http://www.rte.ie/news/2009/1006/dublin.html

The timber handrail on the edge rail.

and a worm’s eye view!
(Just send the photography prize to the bridge and I’ll collect it later!)

Lots of feature lighting I see…shame it will last about 2 years before the maintenance dries up.

will look cool lit up though …

@Peter Fitz wrote:

will look cool lit up though …

So long as you’re downstream of the Loop Line Wall.

You think the ON ramp is bad?

Just you wait till you try the OFF ramp!:eek:

had my worse Pearse street experience in a long while last night.
just wondering if anyone knows when the Macken street bridge is due to open?

1st week of December

thank you Alonso.
do you know what the traffic flow on and off (no rights turns etc) of the bridge will be?

traffic details via http://short.ie/beckettbridge

listen to this how morning ireland guy cuts the legs from under the engineer pointing out the half built buildings and empty offices on either side of the bridge
http://www.rte.ie/news/morningireland/player.html?20091210,2665472,2665472,real,209

Some new pics on thedailystuff.ie

http://www.thedailystuff.ie/beckettbridgearrival.html

Looks like the tie in to the quay was graded gently enough in the end.

Look great 🙂

irishtimes.com

Wow….What a geat new landmark for the city!

Brilliant stuff.

love it

Would be nice to see if this plus the new Luas connection will succeed in bringing footfall out into the Docklands.

This could be the earliest sign as to whether or not the “city centre” will successfully be extended out into Docklands after having been trapped around OCS and College Green for… ever.

Just came from there and the bridge is very nice, fits in very well. The only thing is there is a bus lane each way on the bridge, but thats it no bus lanes on either side of the river. FOr that matter no buses will even be using it. Do Dublin Bus have plans to put it to use?

Yixian it will take a lot more intensification and connectivity before Docklands either feels like or warrents city centre status or interest.

I think Dick Gleeson and Co are getting there and we should be proud of them. But city place making can take decades at least. Rome wasn’t built in a day etc, particularly with economic collapses selfishly getting in the way. But overall the city is progressing very well. Especially if you remember the sorry state of Dublin from 1960 to 1990 due to poor planning and primitive politics.

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2009/1211/breaking40.html

I drove across The Samuel Beckett Bridge at about 12:30 last night for the first time. There was a real “wow” factor, so much so that I had to park the car, and go back and walk it. On my way home, I had to cross The James Joyce Bridge which inevitably is in a really poor state, one entire lower side of lighting was totally redundant and various other strip lights weren’t working. In the cold light of day, there are plenty of other issues too. One wonders whether Dublin City Council would have been shamed into at least changing a few light bulbs had Calatrava been in town to attend the opening of his Samuel Beckett Bridge as he did back in June 2003 at the official opening of its little sister upstream.
Looking at Amanda Levete Architects lovely new bridge nearby I also wonder what the London practice would make of the state of the new structure’s immediate environment (granted that the landscaping hasn’t been started)……………..See pic: http://www.flickr.com/photos/stoneybutter/4150893809/in/set-72157622809236246/

http://www.tribune.ie/business/news/article/2009/dec/06/sitting-on-the-dock-of-the-bay/
One source said he believed that development levies paid towards the (linear) park had been ringfenced for that purpose but the authority’s view is different. “The board of the authority is currently reviewing options for the linear park which may include scaling back plans given our current financial situation. Income to the authority in the form of levies is not earmarked for specific project use but is allocated across all area and social regeneration projects,” a spokesman said last week.

Not to mention the poor state of the O;Casey bridge too. Various portions of lighting not working.

And lets not forget the Millenium bridge. The council has even wiped a J cloth over it in years. Let alone replace the little green lights.

@Service charge wrote:

Not to mention the poor state of the O;Casey bridge too. Various portions of lighting not working.

And lets not forget the Millenium bridge. The council has even wiped a J cloth over it in years. Let alone replace the little green lights.

Well? Get your overalls, I’ll see you down there tomorrow morning?

@jdivision wrote:

http://www.tribune.ie/business/news/article/2009/dec/06/sitting-on-the-dock-of-the-bay/
One source said he believed that development levies paid towards the (linear) park had been ringfenced for that purpose but the authority’s view is different. “The board of the authority is currently reviewing options for the linear park which may include scaling back plans given our current financial situation. Income to the authority in the form of levies is not earmarked for specific project use but is allocated across all area and social regeneration projects,” a spokesman said last week.

As a student in a group arranged by our lecturer we attended the Smithfield Oral Hearing and the one point I remember from that hearing was the frustration expressed by Tom Phillips then at Frank L Benson as to the practice of a local authority maximising developer contributions for ‘specific works’ which would enhance the specific local environment to a very attractive one benefiting borh the development and local residents alike. Then once the consent was secured and development levies discharged often into the millions the same local authority would overrule their planners with the same ‘specific funds’ to disapear into the ‘general budget’.

If Dublin is to go down the FDR route of public amenity infrastructure as a fiscal stimulus that is one thing but to leave the North Docklands with anything other than the best possible master plan in the context of the scale of the NAMA ownerships down there and the requirement to develop the area to ensure viability for the Dart Underground scheme would be incredibly retrograde. I am very dispointed to read this article as one would have expected a lot more lucidity from someone with the intellect of Niamh Brennan.

Drove the bridge on my commute this morning.

Just can’t see the purpose. I live southside, work northside. It should be ideal for my commute. Yet due to the various traffic restrictions I have no way of making the bridge work. There is no right turn to the port tunnel, nor is there a right turn on Seville Pl to connect with the Malahide Road.

So the question is who exactly is going to use it? And what bus routes could possibly use it given the crazy restrictions?

@Service charge wrote:

Drove the bridge on my commute this morning.

Just can’t see the purpose. I live southside, work northside. It should be ideal for my commute. Yet due to the various traffic restrictions I have no way of making the bridge work. There is no right turn to the port tunnel, nor is there a right turn on Seville Pl to connect with the Malahide Road.

So the question is who exactly is going to use it? And what bus routes could possibly use it given the crazy restrictions?

agree with you 100% SC. I have to get to drumcondra from pearse street. the no right turn onto the quays makes no sense at all. i’ll take a spin down on a sunday morning to have a proper look.

Hatch leading to electrics in the ship, judging by the van parked nearby 😛

I have been pouring over google maps trying to figure an easy way to make it work. It just doesn’t.

How do they expect this bridge to remove anything but a token amount of traffic from the city.

Matt Talbot bridge is one of the cities notorious traffic black spots. You have the north quays east bound, Gardiner St, Amiens St, Abbey St and the North quays west bound all feeding onto one bridge.

The traffic also has to cross on this bridge meaning trucks and buses from the port constantly block the bridge for traffic heading over matt talbot towards ringsend.

This bridge should be filtering traffic coming from the port tunnel and port away from matt talbot and also relieving Amiens and Gardiner St of some traffic.

Dublin Cycling Campaign discuss the bridge:

http://www.dublincycling.ie/beckettbridge

just got this tweet from John Neary in the livedrive studios in the traffic control centre in response to a question asking what was the point of the bridge.

“LiveDrive
@bigjoe_dub It’s really helping with Eastlink & Pearse so far, good option in & out of IFSC too. Next few months will tell how much it helps”

another good thing about this bridge is that, if you are southside and stand in the right place, it almost totally obliterates that utter abject mind bogglingly awful conference centre.

@bigjoe wrote:

agree with you 100% SC. I have to get to drumcondra from pearse street. the no right turn onto the quays makes no sense at all. i’ll take a spin down on a sunday morning to have a proper look.

It’s a direct journey…
pearse street, macken st, bridge, guild st, seville place, portland row, ncr, dorset street, drumcondra.

It has to be arranged to dissuade eastlink bridge traffic, otherwise it will just suck up all the toll dodgers and congest the city centre with traffic that previously skirted along east wall rd and sandymount strand.

It’s going to be hard to put double deck buses across it with all the low bridges from the DART line. There might be a market for a route that crosses the DART line at Merrion Gates.

@Frank Taylor wrote:

It’s a direct journey…
pearse street, macken st, bridge, guild st, seville place, portland row, ncr, dorset street, drumcondra.

It has to be arranged to dissuade eastlink bridge traffic, otherwise it will just suck up all the toll dodgers and congest the city centre with traffic that previously skirted along east wall rd and sandymount strand.

It’s going to be hard to put double deck buses across it with all the low bridges from the DART line. There might be a market for a route that crosses the DART line at Merrion Gates.

thanks Frank. might try it this evening.
just in from DCC.
http://www.dublincity.ie/Press/PressReleases/PressReleasesDecember2009/Pages/NewTrafficInformationServicetoaidmotorists.aspx?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

New Traffic Information Service to aid motorists

Dublin City Council’s Roads and Traffic Department are playing a key role in a new Traffic Information Service to aid motorists in finding the best routes to take throughout the City. The RDS-TMC (Traffic Message Channel) technology will be demonstrated on Wednesday 16th December in the Wood Quay Venue of the Dublin City Council Offices, Wood Quay, Dublin at 11am.

The TMC service will be available to users of enabled satellite navigation devices and integrated car navigation systems. Unlike existing traffic bulletins, TMC messages will appear on the user’s satellite navigation device and will not only show the nature of a traffic problem when it occurs but will also show its exact location while also providing an alternative route to avoid the traffic issue and reach the desired destination. Other information such as weather warnings will also be included to make motorists aware of possible dangerous road conditions.

The Traffic Control Centre at the City Council will be the main source of traffic information for Dublin. With access to more than 200 cameras, direct contact with the Gardai, feedback from Dublin Bus and members of the public, the City Council has the most accurate and up to the minute picture of Dublin City traffic.

Brendan O’Brien, Head of Technical Services, DCC Traffic Division, commented, “this service adds to the existing channels that Dublin City Council use to provide traffic information to the public, such as the dedicated radio station “Live Drive” 103.2FM and the SMS and e-mail traffic alert system provided at http://www.dublinregionaltraffic.ie “

To reserve a place at this demonstration please e-mail niall.bolger@dublincity.ie

@Frank Taylor wrote:

It’s a direct journey…
pearse street, macken st, bridge, guild st, seville place, portland row, ncr, dorset street, drumcondra.

It has to be arranged to dissuade eastlink bridge traffic, otherwise it will just suck up all the toll dodgers and congest the city centre with traffic that previously skirted along east wall rd and sandymount strand.

It’s going to be hard to put double deck buses across it with all the low bridges from the DART line. There might be a market for a route that crosses the DART line at Merrion Gates.

Fuck the tolls.

Common sense and traffic management should come before the greed of tolls.

@dave123 wrote:

Fuck the tolls.

Common sense and traffic management should come before the greed of tolls.

Nice paradox Dave, use of a profanity and an appeal for common sense in the same statement. Hey you’re not a member of the Green Parliamentary Party by any chance, are you?

@foremanjoe wrote:

Nice paradox Dave, use of a profanity and an appeal for common sense in the same statement. Hey you’re not a member of the Green Parliamentary Party by any chance, are you?

No are you….

I can understand not wanting to take away from the Eastlink.

However it doesn’t make any sense to frustrate people trying to get from south to Malahide Road, Coast Road areas. A right turn off seville place or right turn off the bridge to the tunnel/east wall road/alfie byrne road would enable a lot of traffic to use the tunnel.

At the moment it is only useful to get to the airport (accept for the tunnel) and NCR.

Meanwhile Matt Talbot is still a mess every evening.

I also like the way there is no bus lane up to the bridge, yet there is one on the bridge.

@dave123 wrote:

No are you….

Fuck you, dave123! Fuck you!!!

I would now like to withdraw my previous statement and apologise to the forum for the use of unforumlike language.

You have serious issues, which needs to be dealt with……:rolleyes:

@Service charge wrote:

I can understand not wanting to take away from the Eastlink.

I don’t.

Since O’Connnell bridge and all the others right up to Eastlink is congested, there is really no sympathy given to toll operators. Feck them totally. It’s time we stop using money as our god and start re gaining common sense. Safety and common sense should become before the illogic of the toll operators wanting more money.

@dave123 wrote:

You have serious issues, which needs to be dealt with……:rolleyes:

Lighten up dave123.

And maybe read a newspaper.

@foremanjoe wrote:

Lighten up dave123.

And maybe read a newspaper.

Just sort yourself out dude! It’s simple. Try it. Could be good.

@dave123 wrote:

Just sort yourself out dude! It’s simple. Try it. Could be good.

Ok, I’ll give it a go.

Thanks man, I needed someone to straighten me out.

I haven’t been on an even keel for a while now.

Seriously thanks, this has cheered me up no end.

@Frank Taylor wrote:

It’s a direct journey…
pearse street, macken st, bridge, guild st, seville place, portland row, ncr, dorset street, drumcondra.

The traffic lights are going to need some serious updating at the five lamps, tried this route today, there was light traffic and it still took forever. It struck me on the way how pointless it all seemed unless you put in a 70s style punchthrough going north from the bridge, it almost seems like it was the plan!

tried it last night at about 7pm. from the bridge up to the junction of ncr/Amiens there are about 7 sets of lights. the set at ncr/Amiens are still as bad as ever. as Bago said took me ages to get through with light enough traffic.
will stick to pearse st for the moment.

I agree that this bridge is disappointing road users already. Some gripes from me include the “No Right Turn” at Seville Place onto North Strand. This should surely be a no brainer! However it is fair to say that Summerhil is much less busy than North Strand whcih may account for this restriction.
The sequencing of lights along Seville Place is terrible. There are about 5 or 6 sets which simply make yuou stop and start all the way along. Annoying.
Still at least as I am crossing the bridge from south to north I find out which direction the Wax Museum is! Thanks for that v. v. handy sign.
Im also taking bets on how long all that lovely lighting will last……

The new bridge improves the outer orbital city route. Have a look at this map to see how it fits in

http://www.dublincity.ie/RoadsandTraffic/Traffic/Documents/Outer_Orbital_Route.pdf

I’d say the lights do need to be resequenced around Seville Pl, Amiens St

haha foremanjoe very topical.

StephenC, how is the lighting holding up on the Joyce bridge?

Hate to answer questions to other people but: the lighting on joyce bridge is terrible. One half of the ground lighting is out as are many individual lights.

Same story with O’Casey and Millenium.

Noticed this morning traffic coming south off the bridge is creating havoc for traffic coming from city along quays who have to squirm through misery hill to get south.

I really want to like this bridge, I can’t.

It is useless.

For instance: last night on the commute home amiens st and northstrand southbound was backed as far as east wall road.

So naturally I decided to take eastwall road to the docks hoping I could use the new bridge. But like about ten other cars the only way we could manage it was to turn right from the quays onto guild street and then do a U turn.

There restrictions really only have the eastlink in mind.