The Millenium Bridge
Seán Harrington Architects, Howley Hayes Architects. Dublin, Ireland
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Name of work in English
The Millenium Bridge
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Name of work in original language
Droichead na Mílaoise
Prize year
EUmies Awards 2001
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Work Location
Dublin, Ireland
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Studio
Seán Harrington Architects, Howley Hayes Architects
EUmies Awards 2001 Nominees
The commission for the design of the Millennium Bridge Dublin was the outcome of an international competition organised by Dublin Corporation, which attracted 157 entries.
Program
Infrastructure
Completion
2000
The Millennium Bridge Dublin, a new pedestrian crossing was designed to be lightweight, transparent, structurally daring and to sit comfortably into a prominent urban setting of considerable historical significance.
The 51m span was bridged using an arched portal frame, the large concrete haunches of which were contained within the hollow curved shell abutments. Using this solution, all horizontal and vertical forces were transferred directly to the high level rock of the riverbed, rather than into the quay wall. Also this resolution of forces enabled the truss to be made from very slender solid steel members, creating a sense of lightness and transparency.
As the busy quay roads could not be closed to traffic on a permanent basis, the Millennium Bridge Dublin was designed from the outset to enable most of the construction work to be carried out from the riverside of the quay walls from a pontoon barge moored in the river, with a high degree of prefabrication.