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The Millennium Bridge

• Location: Temple Bar
• Architect: Howley Harrington Architects
• Completed: 2000

Located in the city centre just upstream from the famous Ha'penny bridge, The Millennium Bridge links Lower Ormond Quay on the northside of the river Liffey with Wellington Quay on the south.

The bridge is a crucial element of the new Dublin City Development Plan, relieving congestion on the Ha'penny Bridge, assisting the western extension of the Temple Bar area and creating a major new north-south pedestrian route.  This new route links the existing main shopping streets of the north side of the city with those on the south, and has also assisted in the rejuvenation of the north inner city, leading to the infill development of Quartier Bloom immediately to its north.

The commission for the design of the bridge was the outcome of an international competition, which attracted 157 entries.  It was promoted by Dublin Corporation and the Institute of Engineers of Ireland, under the title A Project for the Millennium.  The winning entry was designed by the Dublin firm of Howley Harrington Architects in association with London based Price & Myers Structural Engineers.

The new bridge is a dynamic contemporary design being simple, lightweight, transparent and structurally daring, although fitting sensitively and comfortably into its prominent urban setting.

At the point of crossing the river is 51 meters wide, although the central span of the bridge  is 41 meters between the projecting abutments. It has a gentle gradient of 1 in 20, to allow those in wheelchairs and parents pushing children's buggies to get across easily. The sensuous curves of the truss are also expressed in section and plan in the abutments, which respond to the movement of people on and off the bridge and the flowing river below.  The curved, stone-clad concrete shells of the abutments are designed to act as spreadwaters to allow the smooth passage of water around them at all tide levels.  From the quay wall, the pavement sweeps out over the river, opening up the bridge in width at each end.  This relieves pressure at the busiest pedestrian points and provides a place to gather and wait before crossing the adjoining busy roads.

Lighting for the new bridge was designed by the architects, with help from Lighting Design Partnership, to be an integral part of the whole concept. To allow safe passage across the bridge at night, the aluminium deck is lit using hidden emitters supplied by fibre optic harnesses running inside the specially shaped bronze handrails. The abutment pavements are flooded by reflected light from the underside of the specially designed stainless steel lamp posts mounted on granite concrete bollards. These also act as portals to mark the threshold of the bridge. Along the centre of the deck are a series of small uplighters, similar to runway lights, which guide you across the bridge, and are a great favourite with children who skip from light to light. These lights, along with small glass globes at the top of the light standards gradually change colour from white at dusk to dark blue at midnight to suggest the bridge and the city, going to sleep. All the fibre optic light projectors metres are positioned in plant rooms inside each abutment, easily accessible for maintenance through the commemorative manhole covers at the entrances to the bridge. Finally, narrow beam floodlights are mounted under the pavement of the abutments to highlight the aesthetic qualities of the structure, to create another jewel set into the necklace of the river.