Rosie Hackett Bridge

Dublin’s newest bridge has been designed to sit comfortably in a sensitive and historic setting and respond appropriately in scale and detailing. Despite the fact that the bridge is for heavy traffic, it is elegant, calm and people-friendly. The edges are visually open and permeable, where pedestrians can lean on the angled balustrade, rest on integrated seating, or enjoy the planting and flowers, taking full advantage of the river views in this new public place.

The bridge is a single span concrete structure, with a very shallow structural depth, with the underside following a gentle parabolic curve, tightening before reaching the quay walls, forming abutments.

Consistent with the architectural design principles, structural elements, such as arches, masts or structural cables have been avoided. This over-riding priority presented considerable challenges in the structural design of the 47m span bridge, but also offered opportunities for elegant ‘below-deck’ structural solutions, masterfully engineered by Roughan & O’Donovan.