JJ
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I checked with the site office and they tell me that the last section will actually be placed tomorrow night ! Delivery expected at 8pm and it takes about three hours to complete.
Cheers,
JJThe slip road from Churchtown road to Dundrum Road is about 250mm too high as it passes under the bridge. This work was done as part of the Road realignment contract by the council’s contractors, not the bridge contractors. Its a simple thing to correct and will not delay the bridge in the slightest. The last sections go into place this wekend so if you want to see the gap being closed then get up there on Saturday night.
Got up to the top of the pylon during the week, spectacular views !!
JJ
The cable design for the LUAS looks to minimise the amount of poles in favour of building fixings. For instance all of Harcourt Street has building fixings, however poles will be required along the side of Stephens Green for obvious reasons. Its hoped that these can be located within the green to lessen the impact.
Unfortunately what will be added are new road signs and pedestrian barriers but these are mandatory under railway regulations ( the tram is considered a rail vehicle not a road vehicle from a safety point of view )
Overall the effect should be to reduce the traffic in the street running areas and with trams running five minutes apart then the street will be much quieter and more pedestrian friendly.
JJ
Have you seen the tactile paving used. Its neat with stainless steel studs inserted in the granite paving, same detail used at Ranelagh triangle. I hear however that its non compliant with guidelines and may have to be replaced with standard red concrete slabs. Shame.
JJThe two bridges at Grand Parade and Ranelagh have stops located on them. Both will feature lifts and access stairs and drawings of both can be viewed in the planning offices of the city council and the council offices in Dunlaoghaire.
The bridge at Suir Road over the canal is pretty basic and sits rather awkwardly between two existing bridges. Part of the work includes rebuilding the canal basin and Waterways Ireland plan to upgrade the canal in this area.
JJ
There are also two pedestrian bridges along Davitt Road one a replacement and one new.The bridge footpath will be a permanent arrangement not just an emergency walkway. There’s a ramp and steps at the Churchtown end and hopefully a piece of sculpture will be sited in this area. The Metro in the future may lead to some restrictions however.
JJ
I think there’s a misunderstanding of the issues around this bridge design. It is far from a “simple road crossing” as the new road layout at Taney junction precludes positioning support columns where they would normally be used to support a simple bridge. The resulting larger spans and loadings for LUAS and Metro combined with construction issues means that the design is very efficient and cost effective.
As for fire on the bridge, there’s a pedestrian footway across the bridge and emergency paths all along the trackway.
JJ
Just for the record two of the bridges were removed to make way for a new road. The other bridges were not compatible with the clearance requirements for LUAS and Metro and had to be removed. I do think it was a shame to remove them though.
As for “non statement” bridges there are a total of seven other bridges on the Sandyford line which are quite modest.
JJ
The Bridge was designed by Roughan and O’Donovan and is similar to the Boyne Bridge scheme. The design was modified by the construction co. that won the tender.
The plan is to construct the deck by suspending the individual prefabricated sections over a number of weekends so it should look spectacular as its steps its way across the junction.
The old embankment at Ranelagh has been demolished to make way for the new station entrance, a disabled access lift and a retail unit.
JJ
I used to work for Barnardos in the UK a few years ago. They had an internal team of architects who carried out work in the Republic as well as Northern Ireland and the UK. They have just recently set up a consultancy offering architectural services and might be interested. They have many years of experience with childcare work.
You can contact them through their head office in Barkingside in Essex.
See http://www.barnardos.com
JJThe Luas and Metro proposals need to be looked at in the context of the overall transport strategy for Dublin. The DTO have updated their strategic plan and you can get some details or order a full copy of “PLatform for Change” from their site http://www.dto.ie
The question of station design opportunities is an important issue. Some of the potential stations such as Stephens green could be as deep as 20m and over 200m long. They will be significant structures ( even if undergriound ). Hopefully the proposed PPP procurement method will facilitate and not hinder involving the best designers, it would be great to see some local talent being given the chance too.The building on Bow Street is a substation built to replace another to be demolished for the LUAS and is providing ESB only, not power to LUAS. There is a small Kiosk in the end facing Smithfield which it is hoped will become a newsagent/Flower stall and the other end features a small equipment room for LUAS.
Line B is being constructed all the way to St Stephens Green as per Light Rail Orders already granted. To achieve sufficient depth below the Canal the tunnel for the future Metro would have to start well before Ranelagh. Studies are under way on the best options. Big questions about what the remaining above ground section becomes when the underground comes along.
Preliminary studies are under way on the Northern Line ( Line D ). The detailed works will kick in after Christmas.
Regards,
JJ.The LUAS will generally have stops which are effectively long raised bus stops (40m x 3m x 280mm). There are a number of station buildings mainly on Line B as some of the platforms are located on bridge structures.
All the platforms and fittings will be of a similar design, there are minor variations in shelter type and configuration.
Details of the proposals are available for public inspection in the Light Rail Project Office at the back of Heuston Station during normal ofice hours.
JJAs has been pointed out LUAS is the Irish for speed. The CIE company carrying out the construction is officially called the Light Rail Project Office (LRPO). Legislation is going through the Dail at present to change the LRPO into the Railway Procurement Agency (RPA)which will be responsible for all Light Rail and Metro projects.
BTW, when asked in a recent LRPO workshop what LUAS stands for the most popular response was “Lets Use Architects Sparingly”. Some things never change !!
JJHi,
I was one of the people involved in the Tram display at Merrion Square. I’d like to clarify a couple of points.Merrion Square was chosen as the most appropriate place having taken into consideration factors such as public safety, traffic management and the physical delivery of the vehicle. This required a 40m long trailer, 50m track and a 50m platform and loading ramp. There was no other suitable location close to the city centre which minimised disruption. All this was carried out overnight and traffic was kept on the move apart from the Sunday when the road was closed for a few hours. There was no political motivation for the choice ( not that that prevented the media speculating that there was ). OK they got some milage out of it, so what ?
The main motivation for the event was to allow the public to actually see the Tram. OK its two years before its running but as its the first of Forty, and we had promised to display one as soon as we could, we felt it was worth doing. Despite the adverse publicity, which to some extent was anticipated, huge numbers came to see the vehicle and offered helpful comments and suggestions.
We plan to construct a prototype platform in the coming months so once again people can see whats coming and offer opinions.
The Red Cow depot is finished and there are actually huge amounts of works under way on both lines. Check out the web site for regular updates. http://www.luas.ie
If anyones interested I’ll try to update here from time to time.
Cheers,
JJAh,would you’s ever stoppit out ‘a’ that and lave the man alone, sure he’s only stoppin’ the jallopies from drivin up the bleedin’ street, ye’s pretentious little opionated upstarts. And callin’ him Nora too,how insultin’…you’s with your misjudgements. Georgian streets were’nt designed for Henry Ford’s pride and joy……….it was Landaus in my day.You’s yuppies think yis own all the bleendin’ roads and can drive and park anywhere in the city with yis’ er cars and mobile phones. Go on out a tha.!
