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William Dargan Bridge
William Dargan Bridge
Coordinates	53°17′35.28″N 6°14′45.72″W / 53.2931333°N 6.2460333°W
Other name(s)	Dundrum Luas Bridge
Named for	William Dargan
Characteristics
Material	Concrete
Total length	162 metres
Height	50 metres
No. of spans	21.5, 108.5, 18.0 and 14.0 metres
Rail characteristics
No. of tracks	2
Track gauge	1,435mm
History
Inaugurated	19 July 2004
Location

William Dargan Bridge, opened in 2004, is a 162 metre cable-stayed bridge in Dundrum, Dublin, Ireland. It carries the Green Line of the Luas over the busy Taney junction, of the R112 and R117 regional roads as well as the little-known Slang River. The bridge connects rail alignments which were formerly part of the Harcourt Street railway line.^[1]

The name commemorates William Dargan.^[2] The engineer who designed the Harcourt Street railway line, which much of the Green Line now follows.

Roughan & O’Donovan provided full engineering design services for the bridge.^[3]

History

Construction started in October 2001.^[4] The deck, 1.325 metres deep, was constructed using precast concrete shell segments that were glued and stressed together, before being filled with in-situ concrete. The 50 metre high pylon was made using reinforced concrete and 13 pairs of high-tensile steel cables.^[5]

Construction was completed on 2 August 2002, where, in front of several hundred onlookers, Minister for Transport Seamus Brennan remotely tightened a stress block.^[6] The entire project had an approximate cost of €11 million.^[5] The first Luas passed over the bridge on 11 Feb 2004 during a test of the line.^[7]

Adverts were placed in local media looking for suggestions on what to name the bridge. The final name was chosen by a committee set up by the Railway Procurement Agency. It included the Luas chief architect, Jim Quinlan, historian Briain MacAonghusa and a representative of South Dublin County Council. Proposals included; William Dargan, Stephen Roche, Canon Harrington, and Suas Luas (suas being the Irish word for "up"). The bridge was official named the William Dargan Bridge by Seamus Brennan in a public ceremony on 19 July 2004.^[8] Where a ribbon was cut by Fr Dan Dargan, the great-grandson of William Dargan.^[9]^[10]

After the death of Seamus Brennan in July 2008, Fianna Fáil councilor Gerry Horkan proposed the bridge should be renamed after him,^[11] which was turned down.

Awards

Irish Concrete Society Infrastructural Category Award 2002^[12]
Association of Consulting Engineers of Ireland President’s Award for Excellence 2003^[5]

Gallery

Plaque commemorating William Dargan on the base of the pylon.
Pedestrian entrance on the northern side of the bridge
William Dargan Bridge as seen from St Nahi's Church

References

^ Oram, Hugh (1 December 2014). The Little Book of Dundrum. The History Press. ISBN 978-0-7509-6286-5.
^ "Luas tram frequency to be increased". RTÉ News. 19 July 2004. Archived from the original on 19 October 2012. Retrieved 17 January 2008.
^ Collings, D. / Brown, P. C. (16 September 2002). "William J. Dargan Bridge (Dundrum, 2002)". Structurae. Retrieved 31 August 2024.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
^ "Dundrum Luas Bridge". RTÉ Archives. 6 July 2022. Retrieved 31 August 2024.
^ ^a ^b ^c "William Dargan Bridge". ROD. 30 June 2004. Retrieved 31 August 2024.
^ Ingle, Roisin (8 August 2002). "Brennan says bridge will be known as 'golden gate'". The Irish Times. Retrieved 31 August 2024.
^ "Luas in test run on Dundrum bridge". RTE.ie. 11 February 2004. Retrieved 31 August 2024.
^ McGarry, Patsy (20 July 2004). "William Dargan: new bridge names after famous engineer". The Irish Times. Retrieved 31 August 2024.
^ Independent, Irish (21 September 2007). "Pioneer veteran dies aged 92". Irish Independent. Retrieved 31 August 2024.
^ "Fr Dan Dargan dies aged 92". RTE.ie. 21 September 2007. Retrieved 31 August 2024.
^ "Call to rename bridge in tribute to minister". Irish Examiner. 10 August 2008. Retrieved 31 August 2024.
^ Kerr, Henry. (10 December 2018) Annual Awards 2002 (PDF). Irish Concrete Society. Available at https://concrete.ie/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Annual-Awards-2002.pdf Retrieved 31 August 2024..