The Samuel Beckett Bridge, Dublin’s newest bridge, arrived in Dublin Port on Monday 11th May by barge from Rotterdam in Holland. The bridge was named by Dublin City Council in 2006, Samuel Beckett’s centenary year. In April 2006 the total cost of the project was estimated at €47 million and the completion date hoped for was September 2008. The bridge has now cost €59 million and is due to open in early 2010.

The bridge was designed by the multi-award winning Spanish architect Dr Santiago Calatrava Valls, who also designed the James Joyce Bridge at Heuston Station, which opened in 2003. It was constructed by Graham Hollandia; a joint venture who were also involved in the building of the Taney Bridge in Dundrum, as well as a number of other high-profile works including the London Eye.

Beckett Bridge, near Macken Street, will have four traffic lanes with cycle lanes and footpaths on both sides of the bridge. A cable-stayed box girder structure, it will span 120 metres between North and South quay walls. It will be capable of opening through an angle of 90 degrees to accommodate marine traffic heading upstream towards the city centre. 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 quays and will cross the river to connect with Sir John Rogerson’s Quay at a point about 70 metres west of Cardiff Lane.

As part of the engineering works, a reinforced concrete support pier has been cast in the Liffey along with abutments behind the quay walls. These all rest on piles up to 20 metres in length, which were bored into the Limestone rock beneath the river bed.

Jointly funded by the Department of the Environment, The Dublin Docklands Development Authority and Dublin City Council, this landmark sculpture will have a curved profile leaning northwards, resulting in a dramatic shape giving the appearance of a harp lying on its side.

The Beckett Bridge on a barge to its final destination.