Rosie Hackett Bridge Droichead Róise Haicéid | |
|---|---|
 The bridge, with pedestrians, in 2018 | |
| Coordinates | 53°20′53″N6°15′25″W / 53.348°N 6.257°W /53.348; -6.257 |
| Crosses | River Liffey |
| Locale | Dublin, Ireland |
| Named for | Rosie Hackett, an Irish trade union leader known for being co-founder of theIrish Women Workers' Union |
| Preceded by | O'Connell Bridge |
| Followed by | Butt Bridge |
| Characteristics | |
| Total length | 48 metres (157 ft) |
| Width | 26 metres (85 ft)[1] |
| No. of spans | Single span |
| History | |
| Construction start | 2011 |
| Construction end | 20 May 2014 (2014-05-20) |
| Location | |
 | |
TheRosie Hackett Bridge (Irish:Droichead Róise Haicéid)[2] is a road and tram bridge inDublin, Ireland, which opened on 20 May 2014.[3][1] Spanning theRiver Liffey and joiningMarlborough Street toHawkins Street,[4] it is used solely by public transport, taxis, cyclists and pedestrians. It is 26 metres wide and 48 metres long,[5] and is a single span, smooth concrete structure, with the underside of the bridge designed to be as high above the water as possible so that river traffic is not impeded.[6] It was built to carry the extendedLuasGreen line,[7] and was budgeted at €15 million.[8] It is named for trade unionistRosie Hackett (1893–1976).[9]
The bridge carries the Luas Green Line, which connectsvia an extension with the LuasRed Line, and opened in December 2017.[10] The bridge is also used by other public transport services, includingDublin Bus routes 14, 15, 27, 27x, 33x, 33d, 44, 61, 142 and 151, certainBus Éireann services, taxis, bicycles and motorbikes.[1]
The bridge was proposed byDublin City Council to carry the southbound line of the Luas Green line, to allow for the reorganisation of certainDublin Bus routes, and to ease congestion by providing additional capacity for buses and taxis crossing the Liffey.[5]
Commentators argued that, being just 90 metres downstream from the very wide O'Connell Bridge, the new bridge could not bring many benefits, and any benefit would be cancelled out by the negative impact on the city's classical Georgian urban plan - especially to the symmetry of spacing between existing Liffey bridges.[11][8] Ultimately, following an environmental impact assessment andBord Pleanála approval in 2009,[12] the project was approved without any changes to the planned location.[8][13]
Roughan and O'Donovan Consulting Engineers and Sean Harrington Architects were appointed by Dublin City Council to design and plan the bridge, and Graham Construction (who also constructed theSamuel Beckett Bridge) were awarded the construction contract.[14] Preparatory works commenced in late 2011, with bridge construction beginning in early 2012.[14][8] The bridge was officially opened on 20 May 2014,[3] with Luas services officially commencing on 9 December 2017.[10]
In its planning and construction phases, the bridge was designated by the working name of theMarlborough Street Public Transport Priority Bridge.[6] Dublin City Council invited nominations from the public for the bridge's final name. Ten nominations were referred to the council's naming committee, which used aBorda count to shortlist five names for a plenary meeting of the council, where another Borda count on 2 September 2013 chose to name it afterRosie Hackett, a trade unionist and republican revolutionary.[15][16] Hackett had been nominated by three women members ofLabour Youth.[15] The other four shortlisted wereWillie Bermingham,Frank Duff,Kathleen Mills, andBram Stoker.[9] The De Borda Institute asserted that the name selection process was the first time an Irish elected chamber used a non-majoritarian decision-making methodology.[16] Some media reports characterised it as the first Liffey bridge named after a woman,[17][18][19] though other bridges used to be.[fn 1]
It is the first Liffey bridge to be named after a woman
It will become the first bridge over the river Liffey to be named after a woman
The first bridge crossing the River Liffey to be named after a woman will be opened next week.
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
