blue

Whats wrong with the LUAS and Dublin Bus sharing College St/Nassau St? Can it really be that difficult to implement a system that both modes can use the same stretch of roadway. It happens everywhere else in Europe why not here?

I would like to see LUAS extendend towards the east as mentioned earlier but first things first. Get both lines linked up and the fastest way has to be over O’Connell Bridge.

I noticed the amount of views too Graham but I think this happened when Helen the ST Jorno originally posted to the O’Connell St thread and Paul (I think) moved it from there to have its own thread and some how it inherited the amount of views the O’Connell St thread at the time.

Diaspora, you just can’t wait to see how the Loreto Brigade handle the changes. 😉

Mind you a lot of those kids probably live on the Luas line and will use it instead of getting mummy to pick them up.

I’m not an architect so I can’t help you but if you don’t get a response here try looking some recruitment websites (http://www.hays.ie/pdf/ie/Architecture.pdf) and you should get some idea of starting salary and demand.

As for the cost to rent an apartment try here http://www.daft.ie Be warned its not cheap but rental esp. in Dublin is gradually falling.

Yeah, remove or alter the parking on the other side of the street but that would eat into the lucrative parking cash cow. If the parking was removed the bus lane could be widened and a normal southbound lane could be added.

You really have to question the seriousness of the DCC to try and remove unnecessary traffic from inside the canals when they stubbornly keep such parking arrangements.

Can we not get anything right/on budget/on time?……..

From the Sunday Times (Needs Registration)

‘Rusty’ Spire clean-up will cost €30,000
Daniel McConnell and Jan Battles

THIS time it is not a joke. The €4.8m Spire on O’Connell Street in Dublin will have to undergo an elaborate cleaning operation costing up to €30,000 to remove rust-like ribbons on its surface.

Dublin city council officials admitted this weekend that the monument, which was supposed to be self-cleaning, will have to be washed by special machines — possibly as often as every 18 months.

On April Fools’ Day, the Gerry Ryan radio show ran a mock item claiming that the expensive steel structure had rusted and would require significant funding to repair. RTE later admitted the feature was a spoof, but this time it appears the Spire’s problems are real. Reddish-brown streaks have appeared on the monument but its designer and engineers say it is dirt and not rust.

The first stage of the clean-up will take place in the autumn and will take three days to complete. A special crane will be brought in to allow the full height to be washed.

The Spire, which is the centre point of O’Connell Street, is seven times the height of the General Post Office beside it.

Michael O’Neill, the Dublin city engineer, said: “A complete clean will need to be done once every 18 months to two years, meaning one will take place sometime later this year.

“We have estimated the cost of the Spire’s clean-up to be in the region of €25,000 to €30,000, as we will need to bring in a specialised crane to reach its summit.”

When the 120m (390ft) structure was erected in January last year, the council and Ian Ritchie, the architect who designed it, said the stainless steel needle would be self-cleaning. All that would have to be done to maintain its appearance would be to clean the first 10ft to get rid of graffiti.

Stringent testing of the material was conducted prior to its erection to ensure that it could withstand the elements.

Ritchie said a small failure by a contractor to smooth out a number of the surfaces toward the top of the structure has caused dirt to gather. He said people could mistake this for rust. “Any talk of the structure rusting is complete rubbish. The material went through a number of weather-conditioning tests and it passed with flying colours.”

However, O’Neill rejected Ritchie’s explanation. “The contractors did a fantastic job. Each section lines up perfectly and we frankly couldn’t have asked for better.”

Dublin city officials said the stainless steel structure, which was treated with a special coating to withstand Ireland’s weather, would not need a major refurbishment for some time.

After being billed as a blade of light for the new millennium, the Spire’s weather-beaten appearance is in danger of perpetuating Dublin’s dirty image. Another infamous art project in the capital, nicknamed “the time in the slime”, had to be abandoned. This was a digital clock submerged in the River Liffey that was to count down to the year 2000, but couldn’t be seen through the grimy water.

The Spire, which cost €4.8m, was the winning entry in the 1998 competition to replace Nelson’s Pillar, which the IRA blew up in 1966.

The controversial design went through a number of legal battles before getting the green light and has since been the subject of much public debate about its merits.

First minor collision already: http://www.rte.ie/news/2004/0701/luas.html

If a bus/coach isn’t in your way you still have a wall and high railings in the way. I think it would be better if it was opened at points as planed at the very least.

Large plaza like entrances into Trinity in between each building would offer great views framed by the building themselves. Opening up trinity to the city and it’s people.

What ever they do I would like to see Trinity become more accessible here and I’m sure it can be done with out compromising security.

Excuse my ignorance but what is that model supposed to illustrate? Scale?

How is anyone supposed to know what the end product is going to look like or how it’s going to address Nassau St by looking at a model like this?

It looks very nice but does this mean something to the trained eye? To my untrained eye it virtually meaningless and if architects use models like this to convey their idea to Joe public it won’t be understood.

I agree but it’s no longer owned by Jurys 😉