New plans for 50m high Monastary Road Bridge at N7/M50
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I came across some photomontages for the new bridge at Monastary Road. The bridge will span the N7 from Monastary Rd to the Red Cow Luas Depot. SDCC are now proposing this 50m high, cross-stayed, competition-winning bridge in lieu of an earlier 25m high bow-string bridge.
Reminds me of Saddam’s arches commemerating the Iran-Iraq war in Baghdad.
The last image is a “future view of bridge with high-rise development”.
:D:D:D it does doesnt it !!
What is all the high rises on the bottom picture ? Are there plans for some there ?
The designers are Roughan and O’Donovan who also designed the Dargan Bridge for the Luas and the Boyne Bridge. I don’t know if they had a consultant architect involved.
Looking at the way the road rises in the distance I assume the view is looking towards the city.
JJ
That view is towards the city – the rising road is an element of the planned Red Cow Interchange upgrade.
From the EIS:
3.1.3 Aesthetic Consideration
This bridge will stand out in the surrounding visual environment in the current context
where there are generally low-rise buildings nearby and at approximately 50 metres
in elevation the proposed N7 Monastery Road Bridge will be the visual focus of the
area surrounding the N7/M50 junction (See Figure 7 – second image in first post, above ). However, because of the
inclined pylons, the bridge should also remain highly prominent in the future if highrise
buildings are developed around it. The images contained in Figure 9 ( third image in first post, above) show how
the bridge would look when surrounded by tall buildings, which would frame the view
of the structure along the N7 route. A major advantage of the cross-stayed design is
that the inclined pylons will always stand out against any background. There would
be a danger with vertical pylons of potential visual clutter when seen against
buildings with strong vertical lines.Proposed bridge to appear as giant A on city’s horizon
Ruadhán Mac EoinSouth Dublin County Council has applied to An Bord Pleanála to build a new flyover bridge crossing the Naas Road on the southwest side of the Red Cow roundabout.
The bridge would be 50 metres high with a span of 104 metres, and is estimated to cost about €12 million.
Frank Coffey, director of services for South Dublin County Council, told The Irish Times yesterday that the intention is “to create an iconic new gateway for Dublin”.
It would be a “signature bridge”, he added. The council already has planning permission to build a flyover at this location as part of the M50 upgrade scheme, which is to begin shortly.
After approval was given to that scheme, the council reapplied for what it describes as a “dramatic landmark” that is “part engineering, part sculptural in its appearance”.
The flyover is to replace traffic lights and should link Monastery Road in Clondalkin to the southbound carriageway of the N7, while also providing access to the Red Cow Luas park-and-ride facility.
Consisting of two freestanding symmetrically opposed inclining steel pylons, the horizontal element of the bridge is to be held in suspension by cable stays, to give the appearance of a giant “A” on the city’s horizon. It is claimed by the designers that the choice of a cable-stayed structure, over a more conventional design, allows for “construction of the bridge to proceed with minimal disruption to traffic” along the Naas Road.
The bridge is designed by Roughan & O’Donovan Consulting Engineers. Previous bridges in which it has been involved in designing include the William Dargan Luas bridge in Dundrum and the Boyne bridge on the M1 outside Drogheda.
A decision is likely to be made by An Bord Pleanála in weeks.
© The Irish Times Jan 19, 06
The Irish Times Fri, Jan 20, 06
The Irish Times Letters
SADDAM-STYLE FLYOVER
Madam, – In view of the Government’s facilitation of the US military, it is fitting that the design of the proposed new flyover bridge on a main route into Dublin closely resembles Saddam Hussein’s “crossed scimitars” edifice in Baghdad. – Yours, etc,
KEITH NOLAN, Caldragh, Co Leitrim.
Looks like Archiseek contributers arent the only ones to see a similarity between the bridge and saddams swords 😀
So the Red Cow Interchange nears completion & the new ‘gateway’ bridge is under construction, does anybody know which one we’re actually getting ?
This –
or the more modest curved job at the top of the montage below …
@Peter Fitz wrote:
So the Red Cow Interchange nears completion & the new ‘gateway’ bridge is under construction, does anybody know which one we’re actually getting ?
This –
or the more modest curved job at the top of the montage below …
SDCC dropped the plans for the ‘new’ bridge and are currently building the original proposal. I have to say I think it was the right decision – the more elaborate bridge would have looked a little daft IMO.
thanks for that, yes the Roughan and O’Donovan proposal was eh, over powered, to say the least !!
In fairness, if ever there was a spot for an iconic modern bridge, this was it. Subtlety is not exactly required to protect the wonderful existing vistas.
Whatever they’re building there at the moment, it looks as if it will be a fairly substantial job & will be significant enough to be seen as the cliched gateway to the city.
The second of two large blue steel arches went up last night on the luas p&r side (the blue better not be staying) i presume two more will mirror these on the monastery side – its significantly different from the generic bridge render on the overall red cow montage above. Anyone any idea of what the finished product will look like ?
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