About This Project
In his role as Marks Barfield’s project architect, Steven was responsible for developing the bridge concept design and conceiving its novel opening action.
Located on the River Dodder in Dublin, Ireland, this proposal is for an opening span bridge deck supported by cable stays to a single inclined mast. It was developed with engineers Flint and Neill for Dublin City Council.
The bridge opens in an unusal and spectacular fashion. It would become an ‘event’ that would come to enhance the identity of the area. The deck and mast rotate along an axis of 33deg to the horizontal plane, resulting in an unorthodox twisting motion that see’s the deck sweep sideways and upwards until the cable stays reach a horizontal aspect.
The image of the bridge held in counter-poise on its side is subtly reminiscent of an Irish Harp.
The unique opening action of the bridge is facilitated by the oblique angle around which its bearing mechanism rotates.