Celebrating 10 years of Engineering Continual Professional Development (CPD) in Dublin

Bridges

The Bridge steel superstructure arrived in Dublin in May 2009 having travelled from Rotterdam by barge following its fabrication.

Samuel Beckett BridgeLord Mayor Cllr Emer Costello formally cut the ribbon onDublin City Council’s Samuel Beckett Bridge at 15.45hrson Thursday 10th December 2009. It was officially opento traffic from 07.00 hrs on Friday 11th December 2009.It links Guild Street, north of the Quays with Sir JohnRogerson’s Quay on the south.Dr. Santiago Calatrava, one of the world’s great archi-tects and engineers, designed the Samuel BeckettBridge.

About the BridgeThe Samuel Beckett Bridge is 120 metres long and

48 metres high

The Samuel Beckett Bridge is positioned between theSean O’ Casey Bridge and the East Link Bridge

The Samuel Beckett Bridge was named in 2006 thecentenary of Beckett’s birth. Dublin’s other CalatravaBridge is the James Joyce Bridge which is situated westof the City over the river Liffey at Blackhall Place.

The bridge is capable of rotating through an angle of90 degrees between an open and closed position tofacilitate maritime traffic. The rotational mechanismhoused in the base of the pylon is linked to a bridge con-trol building on Sir John Rogerson’s Quay.

The bridge is a cable-stayed steel box girder structurewith a span of 120 metres between north and southquay walls. An asymmetric shape is provided throughthe positioning of the pylon at a point approximately 28metres from the south quay. The steel cable-stay pylonhas a curved shape leaning northwards to a point 48metres above water level.

Graham-Hollandia constructed the Beckett Bridge in aJoint Venture.

James Joyce Bridge is a road bridge joining the southquays to Blackhall Place on the north side.

Designed by Spanish architectSantiago Calatrava, it is a single-spanstructural steel design, 40m (131ft) long,with the deck supported from two out-ward angled arches.

The bridge was built by IrishencoConstruction, using pre-fabricated steelsections from Harland & Wolff of Belfast.

The bridge is named after the Dublinauthor James Joyce, and was opened onJune 16, 2003 (Bloomsday). Joyce’s “The Dead” is set in number 15 Usher’sIsland, the house facing the bridge on thesouth side.

The Ha’penny Bridge spans 42 metres across theriver Liffey between Liffey Street Lower on the northside and Merchant’s Arch on the south side.

The Ha’penny Bridge re-opened inDecember 2001 following extensive restora-tion works. The bridge originally opened tothe public in Dublin on 19th May 1816.Among the restoration work, a new slip-resistant deck was installed and the railingswere restored using original sections wherepossible and painted their original off white.The Ha’penny Bridge was originally knownas Wellington Bridge, it was also known asthe Metal Bridge and Triangle Bridge. Thecurrent official name is Liffey Bridge, however it will always be known as theHa’penny Bridge to Dubliners as a toll of oneHa’penny was levied on users until 1916.

The Millennium Bridge is a pedestrian bridge span-ning the River Liffey, joining Eustace Street in TempleBar to the north quays. Installed in December 1999, tocommemorate the new millennium (2000), the spanwas actually constructed 80 km from Dublin - in Carlow- as a portal frame structure made up of a slender steeltruss and resting on reinforced concrete haunches. The bridge was designed by Howley HarringtonArchitects with Price & Myers as Consulting Engineers.The concrete base and steel structure for the bridgewere provided by two Carlow firms: Formwork 2000+and Thompson Engineering respectively.

MacMahon BridgeThe newly rebuiltMacMahon Bridge overthe Grand Canal Dock atPearse Street/RingsendRoad, was officiallyopened by The LordMayor, Cllr. PaddyBourke on Friday 30th ofMay 2008.Apart from it’s historicalsignificance, this bridgeis a crucial link in the traffic management of the city, carrying up to 16,000vehicles per day and is vital to the operation of the South Port. It also greatlyfacilitates the switch to public transport by commuters and residents and linksthe existing communities in the Pearse Street area with the newly developedDocklands developments and the villages of Ringsend, Irishtown andSandymount. The bridge consists of a cantilevered structure over existing quay walls forthe full 90 metre length of causeway, in order to provide adequate width fortwo traffic lanes and two bus lanes. Works were completed in September2007. The Department of Environment, Heritage and Local Government andthe Department of Transport provided a grant for this project under theNational Development Plan.

The Marlborough Street Public Transport Priority Bridge. The Marlborough Street Bridge will be a public transport,cycle and pedestrian bridge linking Marlborough Street andEden Quay on the north side of the Liffey to Hawkins Streetand Burgh Quay on the south side. It will allow for the reor-ganisation of the Dublin Bus route network through the provi-sion of new cross-city routing possibilities. It will provideadditional capacity for buses and taxis crossing the RiverLiffey, as well as providing an additional river crossing forpedestrians and cyclists. When the proposed Luas Line BXD(which will link the existing Red & Green Lines) is devel-oped, it will carry the southbound track across the Liffey.

The design for thebridge was influencedby the irish harp

Pier Details

Benefits of the bridge. It will:Facilitate the regeneration of the north

and south docklands.

Provide an important pedestrian andcycle crossing facility.

Accommodate bus priority and anyfuture Luas line across the Liffey.

Facilitate the implementation of the net-work of environmental traffic cells in DublinCity centre.

Improve traffic circulation generally inthe City centre, leading to improved journeytimes for bus services.