https://www.flickr.com/photos/infomatique/ Photographs are provided by the Streets Of Dublin project and Dublin Journal. Tue, 09 Jun 2026 14:20:32 -0700 Tue, 09 Jun 2026 14:20:32 -0700 https://www.flickr.com/ https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7886/buddyicons/80824546@N00.jpg?1555128695#80824546@N00 https://www.flickr.com/photos/infomatique/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/infomatique/55324326247/ <p><a href="https://www.flickr.com/people/infomatique/">infomatique</a> posted a photo:</p> <p><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/infomatique/55324326247/" title="THE SALVATION ARMY LIKES TO PARTY [WHO KNEW?]-268718"><img src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/55324326247_32fd8e0da8_m.jpg" width="240" height="160" alt="THE SALVATION ARMY LIKES TO PARTY [WHO KNEW?]-268718" /></a></p> <p>We have all heard about the strict teetotal stance of the Salvation Army. Founded with a fierce opposition to the evils of alcohol, their traditional public image doesn't exactly scream &quot;happy hour.&quot;<br /> <br /> Which is precisely what makes a photograph from February 2009 so wonderfully amusing. Stacked up right at the back entrance of Lefroy House on Eden Quay—a beautiful Edwardian-style building operated by the Salvation Army—sat a sprawling collection of roughly twenty commercial beer kegs.<br /> <br /> Naturally, the explanation is entirely structural rather than spiritual. Lefroy House backs onto Harbour Court, a tight city laneway shared with the bustling pubs and bars feeding off the Eden Quay and Lower O'Connell Street thoroughfares. The local delivery drivers simply used the Salvation Army’s rear gates as a convenient drop-off point. But for anyone passing by with a camera and a sense of irony, the visual gag was perfect: the ultimate temperance movement apparently stocking up for a massive weekend session. <br /> <br /> A Century of Changing Hands<br /> <br /> For those of us who have watched the architecture of the Dublin quays evolve over the decades, Lefroy House holds deep historical resonance.<br /> <br /> Back in the 1960s, the building was widely known as the Seamen’s Institute. The current structure at 12-14 Eden Quay was built between 1919 and 1920 by the renowned construction firm G. &amp; T. Crampton, replacing previous footprints affected by the turbulence of the 1916 Rising. <br /> <br /> Designed by architects William Mitchell &amp; Son, it is a striking five-bay, four-storey over raised basement building. Its red-brick Flemish bond walls, channel-rusticated granite, and the distinct &quot;SEAMEN’S INSTITUTE&quot; lettering carved into the stone pediment make it an architectural anchor on the River Liffey. <br /> <br /> The building eventually transitioned into Lefroy House, named in honour of the historic philanthropic legacy of Lady Lefroy. For over twenty years, the Salvation Army operated it as a vital emergency night-shelter and hostel for at-risk teenagers and minors navigating homelessness. <br /> <br /> <br /> From Closure to Occupation<br /> <br /> Unfortunately, the building's recent history has been defined by vacancy and political friction. In early 2021, amidst the pressures of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Salvation Army made the difficult decision to close the teen hostel service, stating a need to reallocate resources to adult and family facilities. <br /> <br /> <br /> The building sat empty, leading to a high-profile flashpoint in May 2022. Activists from the Revolutionary Workers Union forcefully occupied the property, declaring it an &quot;autonomous zone&quot; to house the homeless during a brutal housing crisis. They defied High Court injunctions and a 10:00 AM Garda eviction deadline, arguing that leaving a central, fully equipped facility empty was a social failure, especially after the Salvation Army paused plans to temporarily use the building for Ukrainian refugees. <br /> <br /> Current Status: Up for Sale<br /> <br /> If you walk past Eden Quay today, the doors remain firmly shut. Following years of legal battles, structural stagnancy, and local campaigns calling for the state to step in and buy it back for social use, the building has officially hit the open market.<br /> <br /> Lefroy House is currently listed for sale through North’s Property with an asking price of €3,500,000. <br /> North's Property<br /> <br /> The property has been completely refurbished internally, offering 36 rooms, 11 shower rooms, self-contained apartments, and office spaces. Because it is a protected structure (Ref: 2485 under the Dublin City Development Plan), its classic exterior cannot be demolished or aggressively altered. <br /> <br /> According to the selling agents, the Salvation Army intends to use the capital released from the €3.5 million sale to fund their six other active &quot;Lifehouse&quot; residential centres across Dublin, which provide over 120,000 bed-nights a year. While housing activists and local boards have argued that selling it off to the highest commercial bidder betrays the philanthropic spirit of Lady Lefroy, the reality of modern Dublin real estate means this historic landmark will likely soon pivot toward private residential investment, tourism, or commercial offices. <br /> <br /> <br /> But no matter what it becomes next, the historical record will always hold the memory of its days serving Dublin's vulnerable—and that one hilarious morning in 2009 when it looked like the Salvation Army was running the tightest speakeasy on the Liffey.</p> Tue, 09 Jun 2026 14:20:32 -0700 2009-02-03T14:29:31-08:00 nobody@flickr.com (infomatique) tag:flickr.com,2004:/photo/55324326247 THE SALVATION ARMY LIKES TO PARTY [WHO KNEW?]-268718 <p>We have all heard about the strict teetotal stance of the Salvation Army. Founded with a fierce opposition to the evils of alcohol, their traditional public image doesn't exactly scream &quot;happy hour.&quot;<br /> <br /> Which is precisely what makes a photograph from February 2009 so wonderfully amusing. Stacked up right at the back entrance of Lefroy House on Eden Quay—a beautiful Edwardian-style building operated by the Salvation Army—sat a sprawling collection of roughly twenty commercial beer kegs.<br /> <br /> Naturally, the explanation is entirely structural rather than spiritual. Lefroy House backs onto Harbour Court, a tight city laneway shared with the bustling pubs and bars feeding off the Eden Quay and Lower O'Connell Street thoroughfares. The local delivery drivers simply used the Salvation Army’s rear gates as a convenient drop-off point. But for anyone passing by with a camera and a sense of irony, the visual gag was perfect: the ultimate temperance movement apparently stocking up for a massive weekend session. <br /> <br /> A Century of Changing Hands<br /> <br /> For those of us who have watched the architecture of the Dublin quays evolve over the decades, Lefroy House holds deep historical resonance.<br /> <br /> Back in the 1960s, the building was widely known as the Seamen’s Institute. The current structure at 12-14 Eden Quay was built between 1919 and 1920 by the renowned construction firm G. &amp; T. Crampton, replacing previous footprints affected by the turbulence of the 1916 Rising. <br /> <br /> Designed by architects William Mitchell &amp; Son, it is a striking five-bay, four-storey over raised basement building. Its red-brick Flemish bond walls, channel-rusticated granite, and the distinct &quot;SEAMEN’S INSTITUTE&quot; lettering carved into the stone pediment make it an architectural anchor on the River Liffey. <br /> <br /> The building eventually transitioned into Lefroy House, named in honour of the historic philanthropic legacy of Lady Lefroy. For over twenty years, the Salvation Army operated it as a vital emergency night-shelter and hostel for at-risk teenagers and minors navigating homelessness. <br /> <br /> <br /> From Closure to Occupation<br /> <br /> Unfortunately, the building's recent history has been defined by vacancy and political friction. In early 2021, amidst the pressures of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Salvation Army made the difficult decision to close the teen hostel service, stating a need to reallocate resources to adult and family facilities. <br /> <br /> <br /> The building sat empty, leading to a high-profile flashpoint in May 2022. Activists from the Revolutionary Workers Union forcefully occupied the property, declaring it an &quot;autonomous zone&quot; to house the homeless during a brutal housing crisis. They defied High Court injunctions and a 10:00 AM Garda eviction deadline, arguing that leaving a central, fully equipped facility empty was a social failure, especially after the Salvation Army paused plans to temporarily use the building for Ukrainian refugees. <br /> <br /> Current Status: Up for Sale<br /> <br /> If you walk past Eden Quay today, the doors remain firmly shut. Following years of legal battles, structural stagnancy, and local campaigns calling for the state to step in and buy it back for social use, the building has officially hit the open market.<br /> <br /> Lefroy House is currently listed for sale through North’s Property with an asking price of €3,500,000. <br /> North's Property<br /> <br /> The property has been completely refurbished internally, offering 36 rooms, 11 shower rooms, self-contained apartments, and office spaces. Because it is a protected structure (Ref: 2485 under the Dublin City Development Plan), its classic exterior cannot be demolished or aggressively altered. <br /> <br /> According to the selling agents, the Salvation Army intends to use the capital released from the €3.5 million sale to fund their six other active &quot;Lifehouse&quot; residential centres across Dublin, which provide over 120,000 bed-nights a year. While housing activists and local boards have argued that selling it off to the highest commercial bidder betrays the philanthropic spirit of Lady Lefroy, the reality of modern Dublin real estate means this historic landmark will likely soon pivot toward private residential investment, tourism, or commercial offices. <br /> <br /> <br /> But no matter what it becomes next, the historical record will always hold the memory of its days serving Dublin's vulnerable—and that one hilarious morning in 2009 when it looked like the Salvation Army was running the tightest speakeasy on the Liffey.</p> infomatique 2009 discussion dublinnorthside dublinarchitecturalhistory dublinrealestate edenquay gtcrampton lefroyhouse photonique revolutionaryworkersunionoccupation salvationarmydublinpropertysale seamenâsinstitutedublin sigmadp1quattro theurbancartographer williammitchellson williammurphy historicalbuildingsdublinfebruary socialhistory streetsofdublin https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.en https://www.flickr.com/photos/infomatique/55324320322/ <p><a href="https://www.flickr.com/people/infomatique/">infomatique</a> posted a photo:</p> <p><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/infomatique/55324320322/" title="AUGUST 2009 DUBLIN DOCKLANDS WAS DEPRESSING [MUCH ACTIVITY HAD STALLED BUT MUCH WAS ALSO HAPPENING]-268721"><img src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/55324320322_c684988457_m.jpg" width="160" height="240" alt="AUGUST 2009 DUBLIN DOCKLANDS WAS DEPRESSING [MUCH ACTIVITY HAD STALLED BUT MUCH WAS ALSO HAPPENING]-268721" /></a></p> <p>When I visited the Docklands area of the city in early August 2009, the atmosphere was quite bleak, and broader economic activity appeared to be stalled in the wake of the financial crash.<br /> <br /> There were, however, two major infrastructure projects rapidly reshaping the landscape. While a camera metadata error originally misdated my photographs from this session to February, the visual evidence confirms they were captured in August—a fleeting moment just four months before the entire quarter was transformed.<br /> <br /> Here is how the timelines and statuses broke down for both pieces of infrastructure during that August visit:<br /> <br /> 1. The Luas Red Line Extension (C1 to The Point)<br /> <br /> Operational Date: Tuesday, 8 December 2009<br /> Status in August 2009: On schedule and nearing completion.<br /> The Details: Ground was broken on the 1.5 km extension from Busáras to The Point in 2007 with a projected two-year construction timeline. By August 2009, track-laying and utility diversions along Mayor Square and North Wall Quay were entering their final stages, with the streetscape heavily disrupted as workers raced toward the finish line. The project ultimately hit its target, opening comfortably within its late-2009 schedule and budget.<br /> <br /> 2. The Samuel Beckett Bridge<br /> <br /> Operational Date: 10 December 2009 (opened to pedestrians; vehicles the following morning).<br /> Status in August 2009: Structurally spanning the river but surrounded by intensive civil works.<br /> <br /> The Details: If you examine my photographs from this session, the bridge is already spanning the Liffey. The structural steel fabric of Santiago Calatrava’s harp-inspired design was fabricated by Hollandia in Rotterdam and arrived in Dublin Port via barge in May 2009. Just weeks before my visit, on 21 July, the massive structure was successfully rotated across the river and keyed into its concrete pier.<br /> <br /> By August, the bridge structure was intact, but the surrounding quays were a chaotic staging ground filled with pallets of granite paving, kerbing, and construction materials needed to complete the approach roads. While the bridge's broader timeline had slipped over the years due to prolonged planning and funding shifts during the transition from the boom era, it was finally entering the home stretch.<br /> <br /> Both elements fundamentally altered that stretch of the North Wall and Sir John Rogerson's Quays just four months after this photographic survey.<br /> <br /> 3. Another think that caught my attention was advertising for the introduction of DublinBikes<br /> <br /> The dublinbikes scheme officially launched on 13 September 2009, meaning those posters I saw in early August were part of the major pre-launch publicity blitz.<br /> <br /> Late July 2009: Dublin City Council and JCDecaux flooded the media with press releases outlining how the scheme would work. Because it was funded via a controversial deal giving JCDecaux 72 prominent advertising panels across the city in exchange for the bike infrastructure, they pushed the marketing campaign heavily in advance.<br /> <br /> 10 August 2009: Long-term public membership registration officially opened. The big posters I noticed were almost certainly advertising this exact registration drive, encouraging Dubliners to sign up for their subscriber cards ahead of the bikes hitting the streets.<br /> <br /> The Infrastructure: If you were looking closely around the city centre that same week, you would have seen the first 40 stations and 450 heavy silver-and-blue bike stands physically being bolted into the ground (installation had started that June).</p> Tue, 09 Jun 2026 14:18:03 -0700 2009-08-03T11:47:03-08:00 nobody@flickr.com (infomatique) tag:flickr.com,2004:/photo/55324320322 AUGUST 2009 DUBLIN DOCKLANDS WAS DEPRESSING [MUCH ACTIVITY HAD STALLED BUT MUCH WAS ALSO HAPPENING]-268721 <p>When I visited the Docklands area of the city in early August 2009, the atmosphere was quite bleak, and broader economic activity appeared to be stalled in the wake of the financial crash.<br /> <br /> There were, however, two major infrastructure projects rapidly reshaping the landscape. While a camera metadata error originally misdated my photographs from this session to February, the visual evidence confirms they were captured in August—a fleeting moment just four months before the entire quarter was transformed.<br /> <br /> Here is how the timelines and statuses broke down for both pieces of infrastructure during that August visit:<br /> <br /> 1. The Luas Red Line Extension (C1 to The Point)<br /> <br /> Operational Date: Tuesday, 8 December 2009<br /> Status in August 2009: On schedule and nearing completion.<br /> The Details: Ground was broken on the 1.5 km extension from Busáras to The Point in 2007 with a projected two-year construction timeline. By August 2009, track-laying and utility diversions along Mayor Square and North Wall Quay were entering their final stages, with the streetscape heavily disrupted as workers raced toward the finish line. The project ultimately hit its target, opening comfortably within its late-2009 schedule and budget.<br /> <br /> 2. The Samuel Beckett Bridge<br /> <br /> Operational Date: 10 December 2009 (opened to pedestrians; vehicles the following morning).<br /> Status in August 2009: Structurally spanning the river but surrounded by intensive civil works.<br /> <br /> The Details: If you examine my photographs from this session, the bridge is already spanning the Liffey. The structural steel fabric of Santiago Calatrava’s harp-inspired design was fabricated by Hollandia in Rotterdam and arrived in Dublin Port via barge in May 2009. Just weeks before my visit, on 21 July, the massive structure was successfully rotated across the river and keyed into its concrete pier.<br /> <br /> By August, the bridge structure was intact, but the surrounding quays were a chaotic staging ground filled with pallets of granite paving, kerbing, and construction materials needed to complete the approach roads. While the bridge's broader timeline had slipped over the years due to prolonged planning and funding shifts during the transition from the boom era, it was finally entering the home stretch.<br /> <br /> Both elements fundamentally altered that stretch of the North Wall and Sir John Rogerson's Quays just four months after this photographic survey.<br /> <br /> 3. Another think that caught my attention was advertising for the introduction of DublinBikes<br /> <br /> The dublinbikes scheme officially launched on 13 September 2009, meaning those posters I saw in early August were part of the major pre-launch publicity blitz.<br /> <br /> Late July 2009: Dublin City Council and JCDecaux flooded the media with press releases outlining how the scheme would work. Because it was funded via a controversial deal giving JCDecaux 72 prominent advertising panels across the city in exchange for the bike infrastructure, they pushed the marketing campaign heavily in advance.<br /> <br /> 10 August 2009: Long-term public membership registration officially opened. The big posters I noticed were almost certainly advertising this exact registration drive, encouraging Dubliners to sign up for their subscriber cards ahead of the bikes hitting the streets.<br /> <br /> The Infrastructure: If you were looking closely around the city centre that same week, you would have seen the first 40 stations and 450 heavy silver-and-blue bike stands physically being bolted into the ground (installation had started that June).</p> infomatique 2009dublininfrastructure dublindocklands dublinstreetphotography dublinurbanregeneration infomatique luasredlineextension luasthepointextension northwallquayhistory photonique riverliffeybridges samuelbeckettbridgeconstruction santiagocalatravadublin sigmadp1camera theurbancartographer williammurphy https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.en https://www.flickr.com/photos/infomatique/55325229061/ <p><a href="https://www.flickr.com/people/infomatique/">infomatique</a> posted a photo:</p> <p><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/infomatique/55325229061/" title="AUGUST 2009 DUBLIN DOCKLANDS WAS DEPRESSING [MUCH ACTIVITY HAD STALLED BUT MUCH WAS ALSO HAPPENING]-268719"><img src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/55325229061_15c0a290db_m.jpg" width="240" height="160" alt="AUGUST 2009 DUBLIN DOCKLANDS WAS DEPRESSING [MUCH ACTIVITY HAD STALLED BUT MUCH WAS ALSO HAPPENING]-268719" /></a></p> <p>When I visited the Docklands area of the city in early August 2009, the atmosphere was quite bleak, and broader economic activity appeared to be stalled in the wake of the financial crash.<br /> <br /> There were, however, two major infrastructure projects rapidly reshaping the landscape. While a camera metadata error originally misdated my photographs from this session to February, the visual evidence confirms they were captured in August—a fleeting moment just four months before the entire quarter was transformed.<br /> <br /> Here is how the timelines and statuses broke down for both pieces of infrastructure during that August visit:<br /> <br /> 1. The Luas Red Line Extension (C1 to The Point)<br /> <br /> Operational Date: Tuesday, 8 December 2009<br /> Status in August 2009: On schedule and nearing completion.<br /> The Details: Ground was broken on the 1.5 km extension from Busáras to The Point in 2007 with a projected two-year construction timeline. By August 2009, track-laying and utility diversions along Mayor Square and North Wall Quay were entering their final stages, with the streetscape heavily disrupted as workers raced toward the finish line. The project ultimately hit its target, opening comfortably within its late-2009 schedule and budget.<br /> <br /> 2. The Samuel Beckett Bridge<br /> <br /> Operational Date: 10 December 2009 (opened to pedestrians; vehicles the following morning).<br /> Status in August 2009: Structurally spanning the river but surrounded by intensive civil works.<br /> <br /> The Details: If you examine my photographs from this session, the bridge is already spanning the Liffey. The structural steel fabric of Santiago Calatrava’s harp-inspired design was fabricated by Hollandia in Rotterdam and arrived in Dublin Port via barge in May 2009. Just weeks before my visit, on 21 July, the massive structure was successfully rotated across the river and keyed into its concrete pier.<br /> <br /> By August, the bridge structure was intact, but the surrounding quays were a chaotic staging ground filled with pallets of granite paving, kerbing, and construction materials needed to complete the approach roads. While the bridge's broader timeline had slipped over the years due to prolonged planning and funding shifts during the transition from the boom era, it was finally entering the home stretch.<br /> <br /> Both elements fundamentally altered that stretch of the North Wall and Sir John Rogerson's Quays just four months after this photographic survey.<br /> <br /> 3. Another think that caught my attention was advertising for the introduction of DublinBikes<br /> <br /> The dublinbikes scheme officially launched on 13 September 2009, meaning those posters I saw in early August were part of the major pre-launch publicity blitz.<br /> <br /> Late July 2009: Dublin City Council and JCDecaux flooded the media with press releases outlining how the scheme would work. Because it was funded via a controversial deal giving JCDecaux 72 prominent advertising panels across the city in exchange for the bike infrastructure, they pushed the marketing campaign heavily in advance.<br /> <br /> 10 August 2009: Long-term public membership registration officially opened. The big posters I noticed were almost certainly advertising this exact registration drive, encouraging Dubliners to sign up for their subscriber cards ahead of the bikes hitting the streets.<br /> <br /> The Infrastructure: If you were looking closely around the city centre that same week, you would have seen the first 40 stations and 450 heavy silver-and-blue bike stands physically being bolted into the ground (installation had started that June).</p> Tue, 09 Jun 2026 14:18:02 -0700 2009-08-03T11:44:55-08:00 nobody@flickr.com (infomatique) tag:flickr.com,2004:/photo/55325229061 AUGUST 2009 DUBLIN DOCKLANDS WAS DEPRESSING [MUCH ACTIVITY HAD STALLED BUT MUCH WAS ALSO HAPPENING]-268719 <p>When I visited the Docklands area of the city in early August 2009, the atmosphere was quite bleak, and broader economic activity appeared to be stalled in the wake of the financial crash.<br /> <br /> There were, however, two major infrastructure projects rapidly reshaping the landscape. While a camera metadata error originally misdated my photographs from this session to February, the visual evidence confirms they were captured in August—a fleeting moment just four months before the entire quarter was transformed.<br /> <br /> Here is how the timelines and statuses broke down for both pieces of infrastructure during that August visit:<br /> <br /> 1. The Luas Red Line Extension (C1 to The Point)<br /> <br /> Operational Date: Tuesday, 8 December 2009<br /> Status in August 2009: On schedule and nearing completion.<br /> The Details: Ground was broken on the 1.5 km extension from Busáras to The Point in 2007 with a projected two-year construction timeline. By August 2009, track-laying and utility diversions along Mayor Square and North Wall Quay were entering their final stages, with the streetscape heavily disrupted as workers raced toward the finish line. The project ultimately hit its target, opening comfortably within its late-2009 schedule and budget.<br /> <br /> 2. The Samuel Beckett Bridge<br /> <br /> Operational Date: 10 December 2009 (opened to pedestrians; vehicles the following morning).<br /> Status in August 2009: Structurally spanning the river but surrounded by intensive civil works.<br /> <br /> The Details: If you examine my photographs from this session, the bridge is already spanning the Liffey. The structural steel fabric of Santiago Calatrava’s harp-inspired design was fabricated by Hollandia in Rotterdam and arrived in Dublin Port via barge in May 2009. Just weeks before my visit, on 21 July, the massive structure was successfully rotated across the river and keyed into its concrete pier.<br /> <br /> By August, the bridge structure was intact, but the surrounding quays were a chaotic staging ground filled with pallets of granite paving, kerbing, and construction materials needed to complete the approach roads. While the bridge's broader timeline had slipped over the years due to prolonged planning and funding shifts during the transition from the boom era, it was finally entering the home stretch.<br /> <br /> Both elements fundamentally altered that stretch of the North Wall and Sir John Rogerson's Quays just four months after this photographic survey.<br /> <br /> 3. Another think that caught my attention was advertising for the introduction of DublinBikes<br /> <br /> The dublinbikes scheme officially launched on 13 September 2009, meaning those posters I saw in early August were part of the major pre-launch publicity blitz.<br /> <br /> Late July 2009: Dublin City Council and JCDecaux flooded the media with press releases outlining how the scheme would work. Because it was funded via a controversial deal giving JCDecaux 72 prominent advertising panels across the city in exchange for the bike infrastructure, they pushed the marketing campaign heavily in advance.<br /> <br /> 10 August 2009: Long-term public membership registration officially opened. The big posters I noticed were almost certainly advertising this exact registration drive, encouraging Dubliners to sign up for their subscriber cards ahead of the bikes hitting the streets.<br /> <br /> The Infrastructure: If you were looking closely around the city centre that same week, you would have seen the first 40 stations and 450 heavy silver-and-blue bike stands physically being bolted into the ground (installation had started that June).</p> infomatique 2009dublininfrastructure dublindocklands dublinstreetphotography dublinurbanregeneration infomatique luasredlineextension luasthepointextension northwallquayhistory photonique riverliffeybridges samuelbeckettbridgeconstruction santiagocalatravadublin sigmadp1camera theurbancartographer williammurphy https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.en https://www.flickr.com/photos/infomatique/55325639570/ <p><a href="https://www.flickr.com/people/infomatique/">infomatique</a> posted a photo:</p> <p><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/infomatique/55325639570/" title="AUGUST 2009 DUBLIN DOCKLANDS WAS DEPRESSING [MUCH ACTIVITY HAD STALLED BUT MUCH WAS ALSO HAPPENING]-268722"><img src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/55325639570_9f666039f0_m.jpg" width="240" height="160" alt="AUGUST 2009 DUBLIN DOCKLANDS WAS DEPRESSING [MUCH ACTIVITY HAD STALLED BUT MUCH WAS ALSO HAPPENING]-268722" /></a></p> <p>When I visited the Docklands area of the city in early August 2009, the atmosphere was quite bleak, and broader economic activity appeared to be stalled in the wake of the financial crash.<br /> <br /> There were, however, two major infrastructure projects rapidly reshaping the landscape. While a camera metadata error originally misdated my photographs from this session to February, the visual evidence confirms they were captured in August—a fleeting moment just four months before the entire quarter was transformed.<br /> <br /> Here is how the timelines and statuses broke down for both pieces of infrastructure during that August visit:<br /> <br /> 1. The Luas Red Line Extension (C1 to The Point)<br /> <br /> Operational Date: Tuesday, 8 December 2009<br /> Status in August 2009: On schedule and nearing completion.<br /> The Details: Ground was broken on the 1.5 km extension from Busáras to The Point in 2007 with a projected two-year construction timeline. By August 2009, track-laying and utility diversions along Mayor Square and North Wall Quay were entering their final stages, with the streetscape heavily disrupted as workers raced toward the finish line. The project ultimately hit its target, opening comfortably within its late-2009 schedule and budget.<br /> <br /> 2. The Samuel Beckett Bridge<br /> <br /> Operational Date: 10 December 2009 (opened to pedestrians; vehicles the following morning).<br /> Status in August 2009: Structurally spanning the river but surrounded by intensive civil works.<br /> <br /> The Details: If you examine my photographs from this session, the bridge is already spanning the Liffey. The structural steel fabric of Santiago Calatrava’s harp-inspired design was fabricated by Hollandia in Rotterdam and arrived in Dublin Port via barge in May 2009. Just weeks before my visit, on 21 July, the massive structure was successfully rotated across the river and keyed into its concrete pier.<br /> <br /> By August, the bridge structure was intact, but the surrounding quays were a chaotic staging ground filled with pallets of granite paving, kerbing, and construction materials needed to complete the approach roads. While the bridge's broader timeline had slipped over the years due to prolonged planning and funding shifts during the transition from the boom era, it was finally entering the home stretch.<br /> <br /> Both elements fundamentally altered that stretch of the North Wall and Sir John Rogerson's Quays just four months after this photographic survey.<br /> <br /> 3. Another think that caught my attention was advertising for the introduction of DublinBikes<br /> <br /> The dublinbikes scheme officially launched on 13 September 2009, meaning those posters I saw in early August were part of the major pre-launch publicity blitz.<br /> <br /> Late July 2009: Dublin City Council and JCDecaux flooded the media with press releases outlining how the scheme would work. Because it was funded via a controversial deal giving JCDecaux 72 prominent advertising panels across the city in exchange for the bike infrastructure, they pushed the marketing campaign heavily in advance.<br /> <br /> 10 August 2009: Long-term public membership registration officially opened. The big posters I noticed were almost certainly advertising this exact registration drive, encouraging Dubliners to sign up for their subscriber cards ahead of the bikes hitting the streets.<br /> <br /> The Infrastructure: If you were looking closely around the city centre that same week, you would have seen the first 40 stations and 450 heavy silver-and-blue bike stands physically being bolted into the ground (installation had started that June).</p> Tue, 09 Jun 2026 14:18:01 -0700 2009-08-03T11:50:55-08:00 nobody@flickr.com (infomatique) tag:flickr.com,2004:/photo/55325639570 AUGUST 2009 DUBLIN DOCKLANDS WAS DEPRESSING [MUCH ACTIVITY HAD STALLED BUT MUCH WAS ALSO HAPPENING]-268722 <p>When I visited the Docklands area of the city in early August 2009, the atmosphere was quite bleak, and broader economic activity appeared to be stalled in the wake of the financial crash.<br /> <br /> There were, however, two major infrastructure projects rapidly reshaping the landscape. While a camera metadata error originally misdated my photographs from this session to February, the visual evidence confirms they were captured in August—a fleeting moment just four months before the entire quarter was transformed.<br /> <br /> Here is how the timelines and statuses broke down for both pieces of infrastructure during that August visit:<br /> <br /> 1. The Luas Red Line Extension (C1 to The Point)<br /> <br /> Operational Date: Tuesday, 8 December 2009<br /> Status in August 2009: On schedule and nearing completion.<br /> The Details: Ground was broken on the 1.5 km extension from Busáras to The Point in 2007 with a projected two-year construction timeline. By August 2009, track-laying and utility diversions along Mayor Square and North Wall Quay were entering their final stages, with the streetscape heavily disrupted as workers raced toward the finish line. The project ultimately hit its target, opening comfortably within its late-2009 schedule and budget.<br /> <br /> 2. The Samuel Beckett Bridge<br /> <br /> Operational Date: 10 December 2009 (opened to pedestrians; vehicles the following morning).<br /> Status in August 2009: Structurally spanning the river but surrounded by intensive civil works.<br /> <br /> The Details: If you examine my photographs from this session, the bridge is already spanning the Liffey. The structural steel fabric of Santiago Calatrava’s harp-inspired design was fabricated by Hollandia in Rotterdam and arrived in Dublin Port via barge in May 2009. Just weeks before my visit, on 21 July, the massive structure was successfully rotated across the river and keyed into its concrete pier.<br /> <br /> By August, the bridge structure was intact, but the surrounding quays were a chaotic staging ground filled with pallets of granite paving, kerbing, and construction materials needed to complete the approach roads. While the bridge's broader timeline had slipped over the years due to prolonged planning and funding shifts during the transition from the boom era, it was finally entering the home stretch.<br /> <br /> Both elements fundamentally altered that stretch of the North Wall and Sir John Rogerson's Quays just four months after this photographic survey.<br /> <br /> 3. Another think that caught my attention was advertising for the introduction of DublinBikes<br /> <br /> The dublinbikes scheme officially launched on 13 September 2009, meaning those posters I saw in early August were part of the major pre-launch publicity blitz.<br /> <br /> Late July 2009: Dublin City Council and JCDecaux flooded the media with press releases outlining how the scheme would work. Because it was funded via a controversial deal giving JCDecaux 72 prominent advertising panels across the city in exchange for the bike infrastructure, they pushed the marketing campaign heavily in advance.<br /> <br /> 10 August 2009: Long-term public membership registration officially opened. The big posters I noticed were almost certainly advertising this exact registration drive, encouraging Dubliners to sign up for their subscriber cards ahead of the bikes hitting the streets.<br /> <br /> The Infrastructure: If you were looking closely around the city centre that same week, you would have seen the first 40 stations and 450 heavy silver-and-blue bike stands physically being bolted into the ground (installation had started that June).</p> infomatique 2009dublininfrastructure dublindocklands dublinstreetphotography dublinurbanregeneration infomatique luasredlineextension luasthepointextension northwallquayhistory photonique riverliffeybridges samuelbeckettbridgeconstruction santiagocalatravadublin sigmadp1camera theurbancartographer williammurphy https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.en https://www.flickr.com/photos/infomatique/55325388503/ <p><a href="https://www.flickr.com/people/infomatique/">infomatique</a> posted a photo:</p> <p><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/infomatique/55325388503/" title="AUGUST 2009 DUBLIN DOCKLANDS WAS DEPRESSING [MUCH ACTIVITY HAD STALLED BUT MUCH WAS ALSO HAPPENING]-268728"><img src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/55325388503_53920017be_m.jpg" width="240" height="160" alt="AUGUST 2009 DUBLIN DOCKLANDS WAS DEPRESSING [MUCH ACTIVITY HAD STALLED BUT MUCH WAS ALSO HAPPENING]-268728" /></a></p> <p>When I visited the Docklands area of the city in early August 2009, the atmosphere was quite bleak, and broader economic activity appeared to be stalled in the wake of the financial crash.<br /> <br /> There were, however, two major infrastructure projects rapidly reshaping the landscape. While a camera metadata error originally misdated my photographs from this session to February, the visual evidence confirms they were captured in August—a fleeting moment just four months before the entire quarter was transformed.<br /> <br /> Here is how the timelines and statuses broke down for both pieces of infrastructure during that August visit:<br /> <br /> 1. The Luas Red Line Extension (C1 to The Point)<br /> <br /> Operational Date: Tuesday, 8 December 2009<br /> Status in August 2009: On schedule and nearing completion.<br /> The Details: Ground was broken on the 1.5 km extension from Busáras to The Point in 2007 with a projected two-year construction timeline. By August 2009, track-laying and utility diversions along Mayor Square and North Wall Quay were entering their final stages, with the streetscape heavily disrupted as workers raced toward the finish line. The project ultimately hit its target, opening comfortably within its late-2009 schedule and budget.<br /> <br /> 2. The Samuel Beckett Bridge<br /> <br /> Operational Date: 10 December 2009 (opened to pedestrians; vehicles the following morning).<br /> Status in August 2009: Structurally spanning the river but surrounded by intensive civil works.<br /> <br /> The Details: If you examine my photographs from this session, the bridge is already spanning the Liffey. The structural steel fabric of Santiago Calatrava’s harp-inspired design was fabricated by Hollandia in Rotterdam and arrived in Dublin Port via barge in May 2009. Just weeks before my visit, on 21 July, the massive structure was successfully rotated across the river and keyed into its concrete pier.<br /> <br /> By August, the bridge structure was intact, but the surrounding quays were a chaotic staging ground filled with pallets of granite paving, kerbing, and construction materials needed to complete the approach roads. While the bridge's broader timeline had slipped over the years due to prolonged planning and funding shifts during the transition from the boom era, it was finally entering the home stretch.<br /> <br /> Both elements fundamentally altered that stretch of the North Wall and Sir John Rogerson's Quays just four months after this photographic survey.<br /> <br /> 3. Another think that caught my attention was advertising for the introduction of DublinBikes<br /> <br /> The dublinbikes scheme officially launched on 13 September 2009, meaning those posters I saw in early August were part of the major pre-launch publicity blitz.<br /> <br /> Late July 2009: Dublin City Council and JCDecaux flooded the media with press releases outlining how the scheme would work. Because it was funded via a controversial deal giving JCDecaux 72 prominent advertising panels across the city in exchange for the bike infrastructure, they pushed the marketing campaign heavily in advance.<br /> <br /> 10 August 2009: Long-term public membership registration officially opened. The big posters I noticed were almost certainly advertising this exact registration drive, encouraging Dubliners to sign up for their subscriber cards ahead of the bikes hitting the streets.<br /> <br /> The Infrastructure: If you were looking closely around the city centre that same week, you would have seen the first 40 stations and 450 heavy silver-and-blue bike stands physically being bolted into the ground (installation had started that June).</p> Tue, 09 Jun 2026 14:18:01 -0700 2009-08-03T12:58:04-08:00 nobody@flickr.com (infomatique) tag:flickr.com,2004:/photo/55325388503 AUGUST 2009 DUBLIN DOCKLANDS WAS DEPRESSING [MUCH ACTIVITY HAD STALLED BUT MUCH WAS ALSO HAPPENING]-268728 <p>When I visited the Docklands area of the city in early August 2009, the atmosphere was quite bleak, and broader economic activity appeared to be stalled in the wake of the financial crash.<br /> <br /> There were, however, two major infrastructure projects rapidly reshaping the landscape. While a camera metadata error originally misdated my photographs from this session to February, the visual evidence confirms they were captured in August—a fleeting moment just four months before the entire quarter was transformed.<br /> <br /> Here is how the timelines and statuses broke down for both pieces of infrastructure during that August visit:<br /> <br /> 1. The Luas Red Line Extension (C1 to The Point)<br /> <br /> Operational Date: Tuesday, 8 December 2009<br /> Status in August 2009: On schedule and nearing completion.<br /> The Details: Ground was broken on the 1.5 km extension from Busáras to The Point in 2007 with a projected two-year construction timeline. By August 2009, track-laying and utility diversions along Mayor Square and North Wall Quay were entering their final stages, with the streetscape heavily disrupted as workers raced toward the finish line. The project ultimately hit its target, opening comfortably within its late-2009 schedule and budget.<br /> <br /> 2. The Samuel Beckett Bridge<br /> <br /> Operational Date: 10 December 2009 (opened to pedestrians; vehicles the following morning).<br /> Status in August 2009: Structurally spanning the river but surrounded by intensive civil works.<br /> <br /> The Details: If you examine my photographs from this session, the bridge is already spanning the Liffey. The structural steel fabric of Santiago Calatrava’s harp-inspired design was fabricated by Hollandia in Rotterdam and arrived in Dublin Port via barge in May 2009. Just weeks before my visit, on 21 July, the massive structure was successfully rotated across the river and keyed into its concrete pier.<br /> <br /> By August, the bridge structure was intact, but the surrounding quays were a chaotic staging ground filled with pallets of granite paving, kerbing, and construction materials needed to complete the approach roads. While the bridge's broader timeline had slipped over the years due to prolonged planning and funding shifts during the transition from the boom era, it was finally entering the home stretch.<br /> <br /> Both elements fundamentally altered that stretch of the North Wall and Sir John Rogerson's Quays just four months after this photographic survey.<br /> <br /> 3. Another think that caught my attention was advertising for the introduction of DublinBikes<br /> <br /> The dublinbikes scheme officially launched on 13 September 2009, meaning those posters I saw in early August were part of the major pre-launch publicity blitz.<br /> <br /> Late July 2009: Dublin City Council and JCDecaux flooded the media with press releases outlining how the scheme would work. Because it was funded via a controversial deal giving JCDecaux 72 prominent advertising panels across the city in exchange for the bike infrastructure, they pushed the marketing campaign heavily in advance.<br /> <br /> 10 August 2009: Long-term public membership registration officially opened. The big posters I noticed were almost certainly advertising this exact registration drive, encouraging Dubliners to sign up for their subscriber cards ahead of the bikes hitting the streets.<br /> <br /> The Infrastructure: If you were looking closely around the city centre that same week, you would have seen the first 40 stations and 450 heavy silver-and-blue bike stands physically being bolted into the ground (installation had started that June).</p> infomatique 2009dublininfrastructure dublindocklands dublinstreetphotography dublinurbanregeneration infomatique luasredlineextension luasthepointextension northwallquayhistory photonique riverliffeybridges samuelbeckettbridgeconstruction santiagocalatravadublin sigmadp1camera theurbancartographer williammurphy https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.en https://www.flickr.com/photos/infomatique/55324320442/ <p><a href="https://www.flickr.com/people/infomatique/">infomatique</a> posted a photo:</p> <p><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/infomatique/55324320442/" title="AUGUST 2009 DUBLIN DOCKLANDS WAS DEPRESSING [MUCH ACTIVITY HAD STALLED BUT MUCH WAS ALSO HAPPENING]-268720"><img src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/55324320442_aa28a5f351_m.jpg" width="240" height="160" alt="AUGUST 2009 DUBLIN DOCKLANDS WAS DEPRESSING [MUCH ACTIVITY HAD STALLED BUT MUCH WAS ALSO HAPPENING]-268720" /></a></p> <p>When I visited the Docklands area of the city in early August 2009, the atmosphere was quite bleak, and broader economic activity appeared to be stalled in the wake of the financial crash.<br /> <br /> There were, however, two major infrastructure projects rapidly reshaping the landscape. While a camera metadata error originally misdated my photographs from this session to February, the visual evidence confirms they were captured in August—a fleeting moment just four months before the entire quarter was transformed.<br /> <br /> Here is how the timelines and statuses broke down for both pieces of infrastructure during that August visit:<br /> <br /> 1. The Luas Red Line Extension (C1 to The Point)<br /> <br /> Operational Date: Tuesday, 8 December 2009<br /> Status in August 2009: On schedule and nearing completion.<br /> The Details: Ground was broken on the 1.5 km extension from Busáras to The Point in 2007 with a projected two-year construction timeline. By August 2009, track-laying and utility diversions along Mayor Square and North Wall Quay were entering their final stages, with the streetscape heavily disrupted as workers raced toward the finish line. The project ultimately hit its target, opening comfortably within its late-2009 schedule and budget.<br /> <br /> 2. The Samuel Beckett Bridge<br /> <br /> Operational Date: 10 December 2009 (opened to pedestrians; vehicles the following morning).<br /> Status in August 2009: Structurally spanning the river but surrounded by intensive civil works.<br /> <br /> The Details: If you examine my photographs from this session, the bridge is already spanning the Liffey. The structural steel fabric of Santiago Calatrava’s harp-inspired design was fabricated by Hollandia in Rotterdam and arrived in Dublin Port via barge in May 2009. Just weeks before my visit, on 21 July, the massive structure was successfully rotated across the river and keyed into its concrete pier.<br /> <br /> By August, the bridge structure was intact, but the surrounding quays were a chaotic staging ground filled with pallets of granite paving, kerbing, and construction materials needed to complete the approach roads. While the bridge's broader timeline had slipped over the years due to prolonged planning and funding shifts during the transition from the boom era, it was finally entering the home stretch.<br /> <br /> Both elements fundamentally altered that stretch of the North Wall and Sir John Rogerson's Quays just four months after this photographic survey.<br /> <br /> 3. Another think that caught my attention was advertising for the introduction of DublinBikes<br /> <br /> The dublinbikes scheme officially launched on 13 September 2009, meaning those posters I saw in early August were part of the major pre-launch publicity blitz.<br /> <br /> Late July 2009: Dublin City Council and JCDecaux flooded the media with press releases outlining how the scheme would work. Because it was funded via a controversial deal giving JCDecaux 72 prominent advertising panels across the city in exchange for the bike infrastructure, they pushed the marketing campaign heavily in advance.<br /> <br /> 10 August 2009: Long-term public membership registration officially opened. The big posters I noticed were almost certainly advertising this exact registration drive, encouraging Dubliners to sign up for their subscriber cards ahead of the bikes hitting the streets.<br /> <br /> The Infrastructure: If you were looking closely around the city centre that same week, you would have seen the first 40 stations and 450 heavy silver-and-blue bike stands physically being bolted into the ground (installation had started that June).</p> Tue, 09 Jun 2026 14:18:01 -0700 2009-08-03T11:45:19-08:00 nobody@flickr.com (infomatique) tag:flickr.com,2004:/photo/55324320442 AUGUST 2009 DUBLIN DOCKLANDS WAS DEPRESSING [MUCH ACTIVITY HAD STALLED BUT MUCH WAS ALSO HAPPENING]-268720 <p>When I visited the Docklands area of the city in early August 2009, the atmosphere was quite bleak, and broader economic activity appeared to be stalled in the wake of the financial crash.<br /> <br /> There were, however, two major infrastructure projects rapidly reshaping the landscape. While a camera metadata error originally misdated my photographs from this session to February, the visual evidence confirms they were captured in August—a fleeting moment just four months before the entire quarter was transformed.<br /> <br /> Here is how the timelines and statuses broke down for both pieces of infrastructure during that August visit:<br /> <br /> 1. The Luas Red Line Extension (C1 to The Point)<br /> <br /> Operational Date: Tuesday, 8 December 2009<br /> Status in August 2009: On schedule and nearing completion.<br /> The Details: Ground was broken on the 1.5 km extension from Busáras to The Point in 2007 with a projected two-year construction timeline. By August 2009, track-laying and utility diversions along Mayor Square and North Wall Quay were entering their final stages, with the streetscape heavily disrupted as workers raced toward the finish line. The project ultimately hit its target, opening comfortably within its late-2009 schedule and budget.<br /> <br /> 2. The Samuel Beckett Bridge<br /> <br /> Operational Date: 10 December 2009 (opened to pedestrians; vehicles the following morning).<br /> Status in August 2009: Structurally spanning the river but surrounded by intensive civil works.<br /> <br /> The Details: If you examine my photographs from this session, the bridge is already spanning the Liffey. The structural steel fabric of Santiago Calatrava’s harp-inspired design was fabricated by Hollandia in Rotterdam and arrived in Dublin Port via barge in May 2009. Just weeks before my visit, on 21 July, the massive structure was successfully rotated across the river and keyed into its concrete pier.<br /> <br /> By August, the bridge structure was intact, but the surrounding quays were a chaotic staging ground filled with pallets of granite paving, kerbing, and construction materials needed to complete the approach roads. While the bridge's broader timeline had slipped over the years due to prolonged planning and funding shifts during the transition from the boom era, it was finally entering the home stretch.<br /> <br /> Both elements fundamentally altered that stretch of the North Wall and Sir John Rogerson's Quays just four months after this photographic survey.<br /> <br /> 3. Another think that caught my attention was advertising for the introduction of DublinBikes<br /> <br /> The dublinbikes scheme officially launched on 13 September 2009, meaning those posters I saw in early August were part of the major pre-launch publicity blitz.<br /> <br /> Late July 2009: Dublin City Council and JCDecaux flooded the media with press releases outlining how the scheme would work. Because it was funded via a controversial deal giving JCDecaux 72 prominent advertising panels across the city in exchange for the bike infrastructure, they pushed the marketing campaign heavily in advance.<br /> <br /> 10 August 2009: Long-term public membership registration officially opened. The big posters I noticed were almost certainly advertising this exact registration drive, encouraging Dubliners to sign up for their subscriber cards ahead of the bikes hitting the streets.<br /> <br /> The Infrastructure: If you were looking closely around the city centre that same week, you would have seen the first 40 stations and 450 heavy silver-and-blue bike stands physically being bolted into the ground (installation had started that June).</p> infomatique 2009dublininfrastructure dublindocklands dublinstreetphotography dublinurbanregeneration infomatique luasredlineextension luasthepointextension northwallquayhistory photonique riverliffeybridges samuelbeckettbridgeconstruction santiagocalatravadublin sigmadp1camera theurbancartographer williammurphy https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.en https://www.flickr.com/photos/infomatique/55324320452/ <p><a href="https://www.flickr.com/people/infomatique/">infomatique</a> posted a photo:</p> <p><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/infomatique/55324320452/" title="AUGUST 2009 DUBLIN DOCKLANDS WAS DEPRESSING [MUCH ACTIVITY HAD STALLED BUT MUCH WAS ALSO HAPPENING]-268723"><img src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/55324320452_46fb0b05f9_m.jpg" width="240" height="160" alt="AUGUST 2009 DUBLIN DOCKLANDS WAS DEPRESSING [MUCH ACTIVITY HAD STALLED BUT MUCH WAS ALSO HAPPENING]-268723" /></a></p> <p>When I visited the Docklands area of the city in early August 2009, the atmosphere was quite bleak, and broader economic activity appeared to be stalled in the wake of the financial crash.<br /> <br /> There were, however, two major infrastructure projects rapidly reshaping the landscape. While a camera metadata error originally misdated my photographs from this session to February, the visual evidence confirms they were captured in August—a fleeting moment just four months before the entire quarter was transformed.<br /> <br /> Here is how the timelines and statuses broke down for both pieces of infrastructure during that August visit:<br /> <br /> 1. The Luas Red Line Extension (C1 to The Point)<br /> <br /> Operational Date: Tuesday, 8 December 2009<br /> Status in August 2009: On schedule and nearing completion.<br /> The Details: Ground was broken on the 1.5 km extension from Busáras to The Point in 2007 with a projected two-year construction timeline. By August 2009, track-laying and utility diversions along Mayor Square and North Wall Quay were entering their final stages, with the streetscape heavily disrupted as workers raced toward the finish line. The project ultimately hit its target, opening comfortably within its late-2009 schedule and budget.<br /> <br /> 2. The Samuel Beckett Bridge<br /> <br /> Operational Date: 10 December 2009 (opened to pedestrians; vehicles the following morning).<br /> Status in August 2009: Structurally spanning the river but surrounded by intensive civil works.<br /> <br /> The Details: If you examine my photographs from this session, the bridge is already spanning the Liffey. The structural steel fabric of Santiago Calatrava’s harp-inspired design was fabricated by Hollandia in Rotterdam and arrived in Dublin Port via barge in May 2009. Just weeks before my visit, on 21 July, the massive structure was successfully rotated across the river and keyed into its concrete pier.<br /> <br /> By August, the bridge structure was intact, but the surrounding quays were a chaotic staging ground filled with pallets of granite paving, kerbing, and construction materials needed to complete the approach roads. While the bridge's broader timeline had slipped over the years due to prolonged planning and funding shifts during the transition from the boom era, it was finally entering the home stretch.<br /> <br /> Both elements fundamentally altered that stretch of the North Wall and Sir John Rogerson's Quays just four months after this photographic survey.<br /> <br /> 3. Another think that caught my attention was advertising for the introduction of DublinBikes<br /> <br /> The dublinbikes scheme officially launched on 13 September 2009, meaning those posters I saw in early August were part of the major pre-launch publicity blitz.<br /> <br /> Late July 2009: Dublin City Council and JCDecaux flooded the media with press releases outlining how the scheme would work. Because it was funded via a controversial deal giving JCDecaux 72 prominent advertising panels across the city in exchange for the bike infrastructure, they pushed the marketing campaign heavily in advance.<br /> <br /> 10 August 2009: Long-term public membership registration officially opened. The big posters I noticed were almost certainly advertising this exact registration drive, encouraging Dubliners to sign up for their subscriber cards ahead of the bikes hitting the streets.<br /> <br /> The Infrastructure: If you were looking closely around the city centre that same week, you would have seen the first 40 stations and 450 heavy silver-and-blue bike stands physically being bolted into the ground (installation had started that June).</p> Tue, 09 Jun 2026 14:18:00 -0700 2009-08-03T11:51:42-08:00 nobody@flickr.com (infomatique) tag:flickr.com,2004:/photo/55324320452 AUGUST 2009 DUBLIN DOCKLANDS WAS DEPRESSING [MUCH ACTIVITY HAD STALLED BUT MUCH WAS ALSO HAPPENING]-268723 <p>When I visited the Docklands area of the city in early August 2009, the atmosphere was quite bleak, and broader economic activity appeared to be stalled in the wake of the financial crash.<br /> <br /> There were, however, two major infrastructure projects rapidly reshaping the landscape. While a camera metadata error originally misdated my photographs from this session to February, the visual evidence confirms they were captured in August—a fleeting moment just four months before the entire quarter was transformed.<br /> <br /> Here is how the timelines and statuses broke down for both pieces of infrastructure during that August visit:<br /> <br /> 1. The Luas Red Line Extension (C1 to The Point)<br /> <br /> Operational Date: Tuesday, 8 December 2009<br /> Status in August 2009: On schedule and nearing completion.<br /> The Details: Ground was broken on the 1.5 km extension from Busáras to The Point in 2007 with a projected two-year construction timeline. By August 2009, track-laying and utility diversions along Mayor Square and North Wall Quay were entering their final stages, with the streetscape heavily disrupted as workers raced toward the finish line. The project ultimately hit its target, opening comfortably within its late-2009 schedule and budget.<br /> <br /> 2. The Samuel Beckett Bridge<br /> <br /> Operational Date: 10 December 2009 (opened to pedestrians; vehicles the following morning).<br /> Status in August 2009: Structurally spanning the river but surrounded by intensive civil works.<br /> <br /> The Details: If you examine my photographs from this session, the bridge is already spanning the Liffey. The structural steel fabric of Santiago Calatrava’s harp-inspired design was fabricated by Hollandia in Rotterdam and arrived in Dublin Port via barge in May 2009. Just weeks before my visit, on 21 July, the massive structure was successfully rotated across the river and keyed into its concrete pier.<br /> <br /> By August, the bridge structure was intact, but the surrounding quays were a chaotic staging ground filled with pallets of granite paving, kerbing, and construction materials needed to complete the approach roads. While the bridge's broader timeline had slipped over the years due to prolonged planning and funding shifts during the transition from the boom era, it was finally entering the home stretch.<br /> <br /> Both elements fundamentally altered that stretch of the North Wall and Sir John Rogerson's Quays just four months after this photographic survey.<br /> <br /> 3. Another think that caught my attention was advertising for the introduction of DublinBikes<br /> <br /> The dublinbikes scheme officially launched on 13 September 2009, meaning those posters I saw in early August were part of the major pre-launch publicity blitz.<br /> <br /> Late July 2009: Dublin City Council and JCDecaux flooded the media with press releases outlining how the scheme would work. Because it was funded via a controversial deal giving JCDecaux 72 prominent advertising panels across the city in exchange for the bike infrastructure, they pushed the marketing campaign heavily in advance.<br /> <br /> 10 August 2009: Long-term public membership registration officially opened. The big posters I noticed were almost certainly advertising this exact registration drive, encouraging Dubliners to sign up for their subscriber cards ahead of the bikes hitting the streets.<br /> <br /> The Infrastructure: If you were looking closely around the city centre that same week, you would have seen the first 40 stations and 450 heavy silver-and-blue bike stands physically being bolted into the ground (installation had started that June).</p> infomatique 2009dublininfrastructure dublindocklands dublinstreetphotography dublinurbanregeneration infomatique luasredlineextension luasthepointextension northwallquayhistory photonique riverliffeybridges samuelbeckettbridgeconstruction santiagocalatravadublin sigmadp1camera theurbancartographer williammurphy https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.en https://www.flickr.com/photos/infomatique/55325229211/ <p><a href="https://www.flickr.com/people/infomatique/">infomatique</a> posted a photo:</p> <p><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/infomatique/55325229211/" title="AUGUST 2009 DUBLIN DOCKLANDS WAS DEPRESSING [MUCH ACTIVITY HAD STALLED BUT MUCH WAS ALSO HAPPENING]-268724"><img src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/55325229211_acc32e0259_m.jpg" width="240" height="160" alt="AUGUST 2009 DUBLIN DOCKLANDS WAS DEPRESSING [MUCH ACTIVITY HAD STALLED BUT MUCH WAS ALSO HAPPENING]-268724" /></a></p> <p>When I visited the Docklands area of the city in early August 2009, the atmosphere was quite bleak, and broader economic activity appeared to be stalled in the wake of the financial crash.<br /> <br /> There were, however, two major infrastructure projects rapidly reshaping the landscape. While a camera metadata error originally misdated my photographs from this session to February, the visual evidence confirms they were captured in August—a fleeting moment just four months before the entire quarter was transformed.<br /> <br /> Here is how the timelines and statuses broke down for both pieces of infrastructure during that August visit:<br /> <br /> 1. The Luas Red Line Extension (C1 to The Point)<br /> <br /> Operational Date: Tuesday, 8 December 2009<br /> Status in August 2009: On schedule and nearing completion.<br /> The Details: Ground was broken on the 1.5 km extension from Busáras to The Point in 2007 with a projected two-year construction timeline. By August 2009, track-laying and utility diversions along Mayor Square and North Wall Quay were entering their final stages, with the streetscape heavily disrupted as workers raced toward the finish line. The project ultimately hit its target, opening comfortably within its late-2009 schedule and budget.<br /> <br /> 2. The Samuel Beckett Bridge<br /> <br /> Operational Date: 10 December 2009 (opened to pedestrians; vehicles the following morning).<br /> Status in August 2009: Structurally spanning the river but surrounded by intensive civil works.<br /> <br /> The Details: If you examine my photographs from this session, the bridge is already spanning the Liffey. The structural steel fabric of Santiago Calatrava’s harp-inspired design was fabricated by Hollandia in Rotterdam and arrived in Dublin Port via barge in May 2009. Just weeks before my visit, on 21 July, the massive structure was successfully rotated across the river and keyed into its concrete pier.<br /> <br /> By August, the bridge structure was intact, but the surrounding quays were a chaotic staging ground filled with pallets of granite paving, kerbing, and construction materials needed to complete the approach roads. While the bridge's broader timeline had slipped over the years due to prolonged planning and funding shifts during the transition from the boom era, it was finally entering the home stretch.<br /> <br /> Both elements fundamentally altered that stretch of the North Wall and Sir John Rogerson's Quays just four months after this photographic survey.<br /> <br /> 3. Another think that caught my attention was advertising for the introduction of DublinBikes<br /> <br /> The dublinbikes scheme officially launched on 13 September 2009, meaning those posters I saw in early August were part of the major pre-launch publicity blitz.<br /> <br /> Late July 2009: Dublin City Council and JCDecaux flooded the media with press releases outlining how the scheme would work. Because it was funded via a controversial deal giving JCDecaux 72 prominent advertising panels across the city in exchange for the bike infrastructure, they pushed the marketing campaign heavily in advance.<br /> <br /> 10 August 2009: Long-term public membership registration officially opened. The big posters I noticed were almost certainly advertising this exact registration drive, encouraging Dubliners to sign up for their subscriber cards ahead of the bikes hitting the streets.<br /> <br /> The Infrastructure: If you were looking closely around the city centre that same week, you would have seen the first 40 stations and 450 heavy silver-and-blue bike stands physically being bolted into the ground (installation had started that June).</p> Tue, 09 Jun 2026 14:17:59 -0700 2009-08-03T11:52:14-08:00 nobody@flickr.com (infomatique) tag:flickr.com,2004:/photo/55325229211 AUGUST 2009 DUBLIN DOCKLANDS WAS DEPRESSING [MUCH ACTIVITY HAD STALLED BUT MUCH WAS ALSO HAPPENING]-268724 <p>When I visited the Docklands area of the city in early August 2009, the atmosphere was quite bleak, and broader economic activity appeared to be stalled in the wake of the financial crash.<br /> <br /> There were, however, two major infrastructure projects rapidly reshaping the landscape. While a camera metadata error originally misdated my photographs from this session to February, the visual evidence confirms they were captured in August—a fleeting moment just four months before the entire quarter was transformed.<br /> <br /> Here is how the timelines and statuses broke down for both pieces of infrastructure during that August visit:<br /> <br /> 1. The Luas Red Line Extension (C1 to The Point)<br /> <br /> Operational Date: Tuesday, 8 December 2009<br /> Status in August 2009: On schedule and nearing completion.<br /> The Details: Ground was broken on the 1.5 km extension from Busáras to The Point in 2007 with a projected two-year construction timeline. By August 2009, track-laying and utility diversions along Mayor Square and North Wall Quay were entering their final stages, with the streetscape heavily disrupted as workers raced toward the finish line. The project ultimately hit its target, opening comfortably within its late-2009 schedule and budget.<br /> <br /> 2. The Samuel Beckett Bridge<br /> <br /> Operational Date: 10 December 2009 (opened to pedestrians; vehicles the following morning).<br /> Status in August 2009: Structurally spanning the river but surrounded by intensive civil works.<br /> <br /> The Details: If you examine my photographs from this session, the bridge is already spanning the Liffey. The structural steel fabric of Santiago Calatrava’s harp-inspired design was fabricated by Hollandia in Rotterdam and arrived in Dublin Port via barge in May 2009. Just weeks before my visit, on 21 July, the massive structure was successfully rotated across the river and keyed into its concrete pier.<br /> <br /> By August, the bridge structure was intact, but the surrounding quays were a chaotic staging ground filled with pallets of granite paving, kerbing, and construction materials needed to complete the approach roads. While the bridge's broader timeline had slipped over the years due to prolonged planning and funding shifts during the transition from the boom era, it was finally entering the home stretch.<br /> <br /> Both elements fundamentally altered that stretch of the North Wall and Sir John Rogerson's Quays just four months after this photographic survey.<br /> <br /> 3. Another think that caught my attention was advertising for the introduction of DublinBikes<br /> <br /> The dublinbikes scheme officially launched on 13 September 2009, meaning those posters I saw in early August were part of the major pre-launch publicity blitz.<br /> <br /> Late July 2009: Dublin City Council and JCDecaux flooded the media with press releases outlining how the scheme would work. Because it was funded via a controversial deal giving JCDecaux 72 prominent advertising panels across the city in exchange for the bike infrastructure, they pushed the marketing campaign heavily in advance.<br /> <br /> 10 August 2009: Long-term public membership registration officially opened. The big posters I noticed were almost certainly advertising this exact registration drive, encouraging Dubliners to sign up for their subscriber cards ahead of the bikes hitting the streets.<br /> <br /> The Infrastructure: If you were looking closely around the city centre that same week, you would have seen the first 40 stations and 450 heavy silver-and-blue bike stands physically being bolted into the ground (installation had started that June).</p> infomatique 2009dublininfrastructure dublindocklands dublinstreetphotography dublinurbanregeneration infomatique luasredlineextension luasthepointextension northwallquayhistory photonique riverliffeybridges samuelbeckettbridgeconstruction santiagocalatravadublin sigmadp1camera theurbancartographer williammurphy https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.en https://www.flickr.com/photos/infomatique/55324320487/ <p><a href="https://www.flickr.com/people/infomatique/">infomatique</a> posted a photo:</p> <p><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/infomatique/55324320487/" title="AUGUST 2009 DUBLIN DOCKLANDS WAS DEPRESSING [MUCH ACTIVITY HAD STALLED BUT MUCH WAS ALSO HAPPENING]-268726"><img src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/55324320487_419bcb5302_m.jpg" width="240" height="160" alt="AUGUST 2009 DUBLIN DOCKLANDS WAS DEPRESSING [MUCH ACTIVITY HAD STALLED BUT MUCH WAS ALSO HAPPENING]-268726" /></a></p> <p>When I visited the Docklands area of the city in early August 2009, the atmosphere was quite bleak, and broader economic activity appeared to be stalled in the wake of the financial crash.<br /> <br /> There were, however, two major infrastructure projects rapidly reshaping the landscape. While a camera metadata error originally misdated my photographs from this session to February, the visual evidence confirms they were captured in August—a fleeting moment just four months before the entire quarter was transformed.<br /> <br /> Here is how the timelines and statuses broke down for both pieces of infrastructure during that August visit:<br /> <br /> 1. The Luas Red Line Extension (C1 to The Point)<br /> <br /> Operational Date: Tuesday, 8 December 2009<br /> Status in August 2009: On schedule and nearing completion.<br /> The Details: Ground was broken on the 1.5 km extension from Busáras to The Point in 2007 with a projected two-year construction timeline. By August 2009, track-laying and utility diversions along Mayor Square and North Wall Quay were entering their final stages, with the streetscape heavily disrupted as workers raced toward the finish line. The project ultimately hit its target, opening comfortably within its late-2009 schedule and budget.<br /> <br /> 2. The Samuel Beckett Bridge<br /> <br /> Operational Date: 10 December 2009 (opened to pedestrians; vehicles the following morning).<br /> Status in August 2009: Structurally spanning the river but surrounded by intensive civil works.<br /> <br /> The Details: If you examine my photographs from this session, the bridge is already spanning the Liffey. The structural steel fabric of Santiago Calatrava’s harp-inspired design was fabricated by Hollandia in Rotterdam and arrived in Dublin Port via barge in May 2009. Just weeks before my visit, on 21 July, the massive structure was successfully rotated across the river and keyed into its concrete pier.<br /> <br /> By August, the bridge structure was intact, but the surrounding quays were a chaotic staging ground filled with pallets of granite paving, kerbing, and construction materials needed to complete the approach roads. While the bridge's broader timeline had slipped over the years due to prolonged planning and funding shifts during the transition from the boom era, it was finally entering the home stretch.<br /> <br /> Both elements fundamentally altered that stretch of the North Wall and Sir John Rogerson's Quays just four months after this photographic survey.<br /> <br /> 3. Another think that caught my attention was advertising for the introduction of DublinBikes<br /> <br /> The dublinbikes scheme officially launched on 13 September 2009, meaning those posters I saw in early August were part of the major pre-launch publicity blitz.<br /> <br /> Late July 2009: Dublin City Council and JCDecaux flooded the media with press releases outlining how the scheme would work. Because it was funded via a controversial deal giving JCDecaux 72 prominent advertising panels across the city in exchange for the bike infrastructure, they pushed the marketing campaign heavily in advance.<br /> <br /> 10 August 2009: Long-term public membership registration officially opened. The big posters I noticed were almost certainly advertising this exact registration drive, encouraging Dubliners to sign up for their subscriber cards ahead of the bikes hitting the streets.<br /> <br /> The Infrastructure: If you were looking closely around the city centre that same week, you would have seen the first 40 stations and 450 heavy silver-and-blue bike stands physically being bolted into the ground (installation had started that June).</p> Tue, 09 Jun 2026 14:17:59 -0700 2009-08-03T11:55:51-08:00 nobody@flickr.com (infomatique) tag:flickr.com,2004:/photo/55324320487 AUGUST 2009 DUBLIN DOCKLANDS WAS DEPRESSING [MUCH ACTIVITY HAD STALLED BUT MUCH WAS ALSO HAPPENING]-268726 <p>When I visited the Docklands area of the city in early August 2009, the atmosphere was quite bleak, and broader economic activity appeared to be stalled in the wake of the financial crash.<br /> <br /> There were, however, two major infrastructure projects rapidly reshaping the landscape. While a camera metadata error originally misdated my photographs from this session to February, the visual evidence confirms they were captured in August—a fleeting moment just four months before the entire quarter was transformed.<br /> <br /> Here is how the timelines and statuses broke down for both pieces of infrastructure during that August visit:<br /> <br /> 1. The Luas Red Line Extension (C1 to The Point)<br /> <br /> Operational Date: Tuesday, 8 December 2009<br /> Status in August 2009: On schedule and nearing completion.<br /> The Details: Ground was broken on the 1.5 km extension from Busáras to The Point in 2007 with a projected two-year construction timeline. By August 2009, track-laying and utility diversions along Mayor Square and North Wall Quay were entering their final stages, with the streetscape heavily disrupted as workers raced toward the finish line. The project ultimately hit its target, opening comfortably within its late-2009 schedule and budget.<br /> <br /> 2. The Samuel Beckett Bridge<br /> <br /> Operational Date: 10 December 2009 (opened to pedestrians; vehicles the following morning).<br /> Status in August 2009: Structurally spanning the river but surrounded by intensive civil works.<br /> <br /> The Details: If you examine my photographs from this session, the bridge is already spanning the Liffey. The structural steel fabric of Santiago Calatrava’s harp-inspired design was fabricated by Hollandia in Rotterdam and arrived in Dublin Port via barge in May 2009. Just weeks before my visit, on 21 July, the massive structure was successfully rotated across the river and keyed into its concrete pier.<br /> <br /> By August, the bridge structure was intact, but the surrounding quays were a chaotic staging ground filled with pallets of granite paving, kerbing, and construction materials needed to complete the approach roads. While the bridge's broader timeline had slipped over the years due to prolonged planning and funding shifts during the transition from the boom era, it was finally entering the home stretch.<br /> <br /> Both elements fundamentally altered that stretch of the North Wall and Sir John Rogerson's Quays just four months after this photographic survey.<br /> <br /> 3. Another think that caught my attention was advertising for the introduction of DublinBikes<br /> <br /> The dublinbikes scheme officially launched on 13 September 2009, meaning those posters I saw in early August were part of the major pre-launch publicity blitz.<br /> <br /> Late July 2009: Dublin City Council and JCDecaux flooded the media with press releases outlining how the scheme would work. Because it was funded via a controversial deal giving JCDecaux 72 prominent advertising panels across the city in exchange for the bike infrastructure, they pushed the marketing campaign heavily in advance.<br /> <br /> 10 August 2009: Long-term public membership registration officially opened. The big posters I noticed were almost certainly advertising this exact registration drive, encouraging Dubliners to sign up for their subscriber cards ahead of the bikes hitting the streets.<br /> <br /> The Infrastructure: If you were looking closely around the city centre that same week, you would have seen the first 40 stations and 450 heavy silver-and-blue bike stands physically being bolted into the ground (installation had started that June).</p> infomatique 2009dublininfrastructure dublindocklands dublinstreetphotography dublinurbanregeneration infomatique luasredlineextension luasthepointextension northwallquayhistory photonique riverliffeybridges samuelbeckettbridgeconstruction santiagocalatravadublin sigmadp1camera theurbancartographer williammurphy https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.en https://www.flickr.com/photos/infomatique/55324320492/ <p><a href="https://www.flickr.com/people/infomatique/">infomatique</a> posted a photo:</p> <p><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/infomatique/55324320492/" title="AUGUST 2009 DUBLIN DOCKLANDS WAS DEPRESSING [MUCH ACTIVITY HAD STALLED BUT MUCH WAS ALSO HAPPENING]-268725"><img src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/55324320492_bc664bcdaa_m.jpg" width="240" height="160" alt="AUGUST 2009 DUBLIN DOCKLANDS WAS DEPRESSING [MUCH ACTIVITY HAD STALLED BUT MUCH WAS ALSO HAPPENING]-268725" /></a></p> <p>When I visited the Docklands area of the city in early August 2009, the atmosphere was quite bleak, and broader economic activity appeared to be stalled in the wake of the financial crash.<br /> <br /> There were, however, two major infrastructure projects rapidly reshaping the landscape. While a camera metadata error originally misdated my photographs from this session to February, the visual evidence confirms they were captured in August—a fleeting moment just four months before the entire quarter was transformed.<br /> <br /> Here is how the timelines and statuses broke down for both pieces of infrastructure during that August visit:<br /> <br /> 1. The Luas Red Line Extension (C1 to The Point)<br /> <br /> Operational Date: Tuesday, 8 December 2009<br /> Status in August 2009: On schedule and nearing completion.<br /> The Details: Ground was broken on the 1.5 km extension from Busáras to The Point in 2007 with a projected two-year construction timeline. By August 2009, track-laying and utility diversions along Mayor Square and North Wall Quay were entering their final stages, with the streetscape heavily disrupted as workers raced toward the finish line. The project ultimately hit its target, opening comfortably within its late-2009 schedule and budget.<br /> <br /> 2. The Samuel Beckett Bridge<br /> <br /> Operational Date: 10 December 2009 (opened to pedestrians; vehicles the following morning).<br /> Status in August 2009: Structurally spanning the river but surrounded by intensive civil works.<br /> <br /> The Details: If you examine my photographs from this session, the bridge is already spanning the Liffey. The structural steel fabric of Santiago Calatrava’s harp-inspired design was fabricated by Hollandia in Rotterdam and arrived in Dublin Port via barge in May 2009. Just weeks before my visit, on 21 July, the massive structure was successfully rotated across the river and keyed into its concrete pier.<br /> <br /> By August, the bridge structure was intact, but the surrounding quays were a chaotic staging ground filled with pallets of granite paving, kerbing, and construction materials needed to complete the approach roads. While the bridge's broader timeline had slipped over the years due to prolonged planning and funding shifts during the transition from the boom era, it was finally entering the home stretch.<br /> <br /> Both elements fundamentally altered that stretch of the North Wall and Sir John Rogerson's Quays just four months after this photographic survey.<br /> <br /> 3. Another think that caught my attention was advertising for the introduction of DublinBikes<br /> <br /> The dublinbikes scheme officially launched on 13 September 2009, meaning those posters I saw in early August were part of the major pre-launch publicity blitz.<br /> <br /> Late July 2009: Dublin City Council and JCDecaux flooded the media with press releases outlining how the scheme would work. Because it was funded via a controversial deal giving JCDecaux 72 prominent advertising panels across the city in exchange for the bike infrastructure, they pushed the marketing campaign heavily in advance.<br /> <br /> 10 August 2009: Long-term public membership registration officially opened. The big posters I noticed were almost certainly advertising this exact registration drive, encouraging Dubliners to sign up for their subscriber cards ahead of the bikes hitting the streets.<br /> <br /> The Infrastructure: If you were looking closely around the city centre that same week, you would have seen the first 40 stations and 450 heavy silver-and-blue bike stands physically being bolted into the ground (installation had started that June).</p> Tue, 09 Jun 2026 14:17:58 -0700 2009-08-03T11:53:39-08:00 nobody@flickr.com (infomatique) tag:flickr.com,2004:/photo/55324320492 AUGUST 2009 DUBLIN DOCKLANDS WAS DEPRESSING [MUCH ACTIVITY HAD STALLED BUT MUCH WAS ALSO HAPPENING]-268725 <p>When I visited the Docklands area of the city in early August 2009, the atmosphere was quite bleak, and broader economic activity appeared to be stalled in the wake of the financial crash.<br /> <br /> There were, however, two major infrastructure projects rapidly reshaping the landscape. While a camera metadata error originally misdated my photographs from this session to February, the visual evidence confirms they were captured in August—a fleeting moment just four months before the entire quarter was transformed.<br /> <br /> Here is how the timelines and statuses broke down for both pieces of infrastructure during that August visit:<br /> <br /> 1. The Luas Red Line Extension (C1 to The Point)<br /> <br /> Operational Date: Tuesday, 8 December 2009<br /> Status in August 2009: On schedule and nearing completion.<br /> The Details: Ground was broken on the 1.5 km extension from Busáras to The Point in 2007 with a projected two-year construction timeline. By August 2009, track-laying and utility diversions along Mayor Square and North Wall Quay were entering their final stages, with the streetscape heavily disrupted as workers raced toward the finish line. The project ultimately hit its target, opening comfortably within its late-2009 schedule and budget.<br /> <br /> 2. The Samuel Beckett Bridge<br /> <br /> Operational Date: 10 December 2009 (opened to pedestrians; vehicles the following morning).<br /> Status in August 2009: Structurally spanning the river but surrounded by intensive civil works.<br /> <br /> The Details: If you examine my photographs from this session, the bridge is already spanning the Liffey. The structural steel fabric of Santiago Calatrava’s harp-inspired design was fabricated by Hollandia in Rotterdam and arrived in Dublin Port via barge in May 2009. Just weeks before my visit, on 21 July, the massive structure was successfully rotated across the river and keyed into its concrete pier.<br /> <br /> By August, the bridge structure was intact, but the surrounding quays were a chaotic staging ground filled with pallets of granite paving, kerbing, and construction materials needed to complete the approach roads. While the bridge's broader timeline had slipped over the years due to prolonged planning and funding shifts during the transition from the boom era, it was finally entering the home stretch.<br /> <br /> Both elements fundamentally altered that stretch of the North Wall and Sir John Rogerson's Quays just four months after this photographic survey.<br /> <br /> 3. Another think that caught my attention was advertising for the introduction of DublinBikes<br /> <br /> The dublinbikes scheme officially launched on 13 September 2009, meaning those posters I saw in early August were part of the major pre-launch publicity blitz.<br /> <br /> Late July 2009: Dublin City Council and JCDecaux flooded the media with press releases outlining how the scheme would work. Because it was funded via a controversial deal giving JCDecaux 72 prominent advertising panels across the city in exchange for the bike infrastructure, they pushed the marketing campaign heavily in advance.<br /> <br /> 10 August 2009: Long-term public membership registration officially opened. The big posters I noticed were almost certainly advertising this exact registration drive, encouraging Dubliners to sign up for their subscriber cards ahead of the bikes hitting the streets.<br /> <br /> The Infrastructure: If you were looking closely around the city centre that same week, you would have seen the first 40 stations and 450 heavy silver-and-blue bike stands physically being bolted into the ground (installation had started that June).</p> infomatique 2009dublininfrastructure dublindocklands dublinstreetphotography dublinurbanregeneration infomatique luasredlineextension luasthepointextension northwallquayhistory photonique riverliffeybridges samuelbeckettbridgeconstruction santiagocalatravadublin sigmadp1camera theurbancartographer williammurphy https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.en https://www.flickr.com/photos/infomatique/55324320367/ <p><a href="https://www.flickr.com/people/infomatique/">infomatique</a> posted a photo:</p> <p><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/infomatique/55324320367/" title="AUGUST 2009 DUBLIN DOCKLANDS WAS DEPRESSING [MUCH ACTIVITY HAD STALLED BUT MUCH WAS ALSO HAPPENING]-268727"><img src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/55324320367_9e10b42468_m.jpg" width="240" height="160" alt="AUGUST 2009 DUBLIN DOCKLANDS WAS DEPRESSING [MUCH ACTIVITY HAD STALLED BUT MUCH WAS ALSO HAPPENING]-268727" /></a></p> <p>When I visited the Docklands area of the city in early August 2009, the atmosphere was quite bleak, and broader economic activity appeared to be stalled in the wake of the financial crash.<br /> <br /> There were, however, two major infrastructure projects rapidly reshaping the landscape. While a camera metadata error originally misdated my photographs from this session to February, the visual evidence confirms they were captured in August—a fleeting moment just four months before the entire quarter was transformed.<br /> <br /> Here is how the timelines and statuses broke down for both pieces of infrastructure during that August visit:<br /> <br /> 1. The Luas Red Line Extension (C1 to The Point)<br /> <br /> Operational Date: Tuesday, 8 December 2009<br /> Status in August 2009: On schedule and nearing completion.<br /> The Details: Ground was broken on the 1.5 km extension from Busáras to The Point in 2007 with a projected two-year construction timeline. By August 2009, track-laying and utility diversions along Mayor Square and North Wall Quay were entering their final stages, with the streetscape heavily disrupted as workers raced toward the finish line. The project ultimately hit its target, opening comfortably within its late-2009 schedule and budget.<br /> <br /> 2. The Samuel Beckett Bridge<br /> <br /> Operational Date: 10 December 2009 (opened to pedestrians; vehicles the following morning).<br /> Status in August 2009: Structurally spanning the river but surrounded by intensive civil works.<br /> <br /> The Details: If you examine my photographs from this session, the bridge is already spanning the Liffey. The structural steel fabric of Santiago Calatrava’s harp-inspired design was fabricated by Hollandia in Rotterdam and arrived in Dublin Port via barge in May 2009. Just weeks before my visit, on 21 July, the massive structure was successfully rotated across the river and keyed into its concrete pier.<br /> <br /> By August, the bridge structure was intact, but the surrounding quays were a chaotic staging ground filled with pallets of granite paving, kerbing, and construction materials needed to complete the approach roads. While the bridge's broader timeline had slipped over the years due to prolonged planning and funding shifts during the transition from the boom era, it was finally entering the home stretch.<br /> <br /> Both elements fundamentally altered that stretch of the North Wall and Sir John Rogerson's Quays just four months after this photographic survey.<br /> <br /> 3. Another think that caught my attention was advertising for the introduction of DublinBikes<br /> <br /> The dublinbikes scheme officially launched on 13 September 2009, meaning those posters I saw in early August were part of the major pre-launch publicity blitz.<br /> <br /> Late July 2009: Dublin City Council and JCDecaux flooded the media with press releases outlining how the scheme would work. Because it was funded via a controversial deal giving JCDecaux 72 prominent advertising panels across the city in exchange for the bike infrastructure, they pushed the marketing campaign heavily in advance.<br /> <br /> 10 August 2009: Long-term public membership registration officially opened. The big posters I noticed were almost certainly advertising this exact registration drive, encouraging Dubliners to sign up for their subscriber cards ahead of the bikes hitting the streets.<br /> <br /> The Infrastructure: If you were looking closely around the city centre that same week, you would have seen the first 40 stations and 450 heavy silver-and-blue bike stands physically being bolted into the ground (installation had started that June).</p> Tue, 09 Jun 2026 14:17:58 -0700 2009-08-03T12:33:53-08:00 nobody@flickr.com (infomatique) tag:flickr.com,2004:/photo/55324320367 AUGUST 2009 DUBLIN DOCKLANDS WAS DEPRESSING [MUCH ACTIVITY HAD STALLED BUT MUCH WAS ALSO HAPPENING]-268727 <p>When I visited the Docklands area of the city in early August 2009, the atmosphere was quite bleak, and broader economic activity appeared to be stalled in the wake of the financial crash.<br /> <br /> There were, however, two major infrastructure projects rapidly reshaping the landscape. While a camera metadata error originally misdated my photographs from this session to February, the visual evidence confirms they were captured in August—a fleeting moment just four months before the entire quarter was transformed.<br /> <br /> Here is how the timelines and statuses broke down for both pieces of infrastructure during that August visit:<br /> <br /> 1. The Luas Red Line Extension (C1 to The Point)<br /> <br /> Operational Date: Tuesday, 8 December 2009<br /> Status in August 2009: On schedule and nearing completion.<br /> The Details: Ground was broken on the 1.5 km extension from Busáras to The Point in 2007 with a projected two-year construction timeline. By August 2009, track-laying and utility diversions along Mayor Square and North Wall Quay were entering their final stages, with the streetscape heavily disrupted as workers raced toward the finish line. The project ultimately hit its target, opening comfortably within its late-2009 schedule and budget.<br /> <br /> 2. The Samuel Beckett Bridge<br /> <br /> Operational Date: 10 December 2009 (opened to pedestrians; vehicles the following morning).<br /> Status in August 2009: Structurally spanning the river but surrounded by intensive civil works.<br /> <br /> The Details: If you examine my photographs from this session, the bridge is already spanning the Liffey. The structural steel fabric of Santiago Calatrava’s harp-inspired design was fabricated by Hollandia in Rotterdam and arrived in Dublin Port via barge in May 2009. Just weeks before my visit, on 21 July, the massive structure was successfully rotated across the river and keyed into its concrete pier.<br /> <br /> By August, the bridge structure was intact, but the surrounding quays were a chaotic staging ground filled with pallets of granite paving, kerbing, and construction materials needed to complete the approach roads. While the bridge's broader timeline had slipped over the years due to prolonged planning and funding shifts during the transition from the boom era, it was finally entering the home stretch.<br /> <br /> Both elements fundamentally altered that stretch of the North Wall and Sir John Rogerson's Quays just four months after this photographic survey.<br /> <br /> 3. Another think that caught my attention was advertising for the introduction of DublinBikes<br /> <br /> The dublinbikes scheme officially launched on 13 September 2009, meaning those posters I saw in early August were part of the major pre-launch publicity blitz.<br /> <br /> Late July 2009: Dublin City Council and JCDecaux flooded the media with press releases outlining how the scheme would work. Because it was funded via a controversial deal giving JCDecaux 72 prominent advertising panels across the city in exchange for the bike infrastructure, they pushed the marketing campaign heavily in advance.<br /> <br /> 10 August 2009: Long-term public membership registration officially opened. The big posters I noticed were almost certainly advertising this exact registration drive, encouraging Dubliners to sign up for their subscriber cards ahead of the bikes hitting the streets.<br /> <br /> The Infrastructure: If you were looking closely around the city centre that same week, you would have seen the first 40 stations and 450 heavy silver-and-blue bike stands physically being bolted into the ground (installation had started that June).</p> infomatique 2009dublininfrastructure dublindocklands dublinstreetphotography dublinurbanregeneration infomatique luasredlineextension luasthepointextension northwallquayhistory photonique riverliffeybridges samuelbeckettbridgeconstruction santiagocalatravadublin sigmadp1camera theurbancartographer williammurphy https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.en https://www.flickr.com/photos/infomatique/55325388668/ <p><a href="https://www.flickr.com/people/infomatique/">infomatique</a> posted a photo:</p> <p><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/infomatique/55325388668/" title="AUGUST 2009 DUBLIN DOCKLANDS WAS DEPRESSING [MUCH ACTIVITY HAD STALLED BUT MUCH WAS ALSO HAPPENING]-268730"><img src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/55325388668_245d83a08d_m.jpg" width="240" height="160" alt="AUGUST 2009 DUBLIN DOCKLANDS WAS DEPRESSING [MUCH ACTIVITY HAD STALLED BUT MUCH WAS ALSO HAPPENING]-268730" /></a></p> <p>When I visited the Docklands area of the city in early August 2009, the atmosphere was quite bleak, and broader economic activity appeared to be stalled in the wake of the financial crash.<br /> <br /> There were, however, two major infrastructure projects rapidly reshaping the landscape. While a camera metadata error originally misdated my photographs from this session to February, the visual evidence confirms they were captured in August—a fleeting moment just four months before the entire quarter was transformed.<br /> <br /> Here is how the timelines and statuses broke down for both pieces of infrastructure during that August visit:<br /> <br /> 1. The Luas Red Line Extension (C1 to The Point)<br /> <br /> Operational Date: Tuesday, 8 December 2009<br /> Status in August 2009: On schedule and nearing completion.<br /> The Details: Ground was broken on the 1.5 km extension from Busáras to The Point in 2007 with a projected two-year construction timeline. By August 2009, track-laying and utility diversions along Mayor Square and North Wall Quay were entering their final stages, with the streetscape heavily disrupted as workers raced toward the finish line. The project ultimately hit its target, opening comfortably within its late-2009 schedule and budget.<br /> <br /> 2. The Samuel Beckett Bridge<br /> <br /> Operational Date: 10 December 2009 (opened to pedestrians; vehicles the following morning).<br /> Status in August 2009: Structurally spanning the river but surrounded by intensive civil works.<br /> <br /> The Details: If you examine my photographs from this session, the bridge is already spanning the Liffey. The structural steel fabric of Santiago Calatrava’s harp-inspired design was fabricated by Hollandia in Rotterdam and arrived in Dublin Port via barge in May 2009. Just weeks before my visit, on 21 July, the massive structure was successfully rotated across the river and keyed into its concrete pier.<br /> <br /> By August, the bridge structure was intact, but the surrounding quays were a chaotic staging ground filled with pallets of granite paving, kerbing, and construction materials needed to complete the approach roads. While the bridge's broader timeline had slipped over the years due to prolonged planning and funding shifts during the transition from the boom era, it was finally entering the home stretch.<br /> <br /> Both elements fundamentally altered that stretch of the North Wall and Sir John Rogerson's Quays just four months after this photographic survey.<br /> <br /> 3. Another think that caught my attention was advertising for the introduction of DublinBikes<br /> <br /> The dublinbikes scheme officially launched on 13 September 2009, meaning those posters I saw in early August were part of the major pre-launch publicity blitz.<br /> <br /> Late July 2009: Dublin City Council and JCDecaux flooded the media with press releases outlining how the scheme would work. Because it was funded via a controversial deal giving JCDecaux 72 prominent advertising panels across the city in exchange for the bike infrastructure, they pushed the marketing campaign heavily in advance.<br /> <br /> 10 August 2009: Long-term public membership registration officially opened. The big posters I noticed were almost certainly advertising this exact registration drive, encouraging Dubliners to sign up for their subscriber cards ahead of the bikes hitting the streets.<br /> <br /> The Infrastructure: If you were looking closely around the city centre that same week, you would have seen the first 40 stations and 450 heavy silver-and-blue bike stands physically being bolted into the ground (installation had started that June).</p> Tue, 09 Jun 2026 14:17:57 -0700 2009-08-03T13:02:16-08:00 nobody@flickr.com (infomatique) tag:flickr.com,2004:/photo/55325388668 AUGUST 2009 DUBLIN DOCKLANDS WAS DEPRESSING [MUCH ACTIVITY HAD STALLED BUT MUCH WAS ALSO HAPPENING]-268730 <p>When I visited the Docklands area of the city in early August 2009, the atmosphere was quite bleak, and broader economic activity appeared to be stalled in the wake of the financial crash.<br /> <br /> There were, however, two major infrastructure projects rapidly reshaping the landscape. While a camera metadata error originally misdated my photographs from this session to February, the visual evidence confirms they were captured in August—a fleeting moment just four months before the entire quarter was transformed.<br /> <br /> Here is how the timelines and statuses broke down for both pieces of infrastructure during that August visit:<br /> <br /> 1. The Luas Red Line Extension (C1 to The Point)<br /> <br /> Operational Date: Tuesday, 8 December 2009<br /> Status in August 2009: On schedule and nearing completion.<br /> The Details: Ground was broken on the 1.5 km extension from Busáras to The Point in 2007 with a projected two-year construction timeline. By August 2009, track-laying and utility diversions along Mayor Square and North Wall Quay were entering their final stages, with the streetscape heavily disrupted as workers raced toward the finish line. The project ultimately hit its target, opening comfortably within its late-2009 schedule and budget.<br /> <br /> 2. The Samuel Beckett Bridge<br /> <br /> Operational Date: 10 December 2009 (opened to pedestrians; vehicles the following morning).<br /> Status in August 2009: Structurally spanning the river but surrounded by intensive civil works.<br /> <br /> The Details: If you examine my photographs from this session, the bridge is already spanning the Liffey. The structural steel fabric of Santiago Calatrava’s harp-inspired design was fabricated by Hollandia in Rotterdam and arrived in Dublin Port via barge in May 2009. Just weeks before my visit, on 21 July, the massive structure was successfully rotated across the river and keyed into its concrete pier.<br /> <br /> By August, the bridge structure was intact, but the surrounding quays were a chaotic staging ground filled with pallets of granite paving, kerbing, and construction materials needed to complete the approach roads. While the bridge's broader timeline had slipped over the years due to prolonged planning and funding shifts during the transition from the boom era, it was finally entering the home stretch.<br /> <br /> Both elements fundamentally altered that stretch of the North Wall and Sir John Rogerson's Quays just four months after this photographic survey.<br /> <br /> 3. Another think that caught my attention was advertising for the introduction of DublinBikes<br /> <br /> The dublinbikes scheme officially launched on 13 September 2009, meaning those posters I saw in early August were part of the major pre-launch publicity blitz.<br /> <br /> Late July 2009: Dublin City Council and JCDecaux flooded the media with press releases outlining how the scheme would work. Because it was funded via a controversial deal giving JCDecaux 72 prominent advertising panels across the city in exchange for the bike infrastructure, they pushed the marketing campaign heavily in advance.<br /> <br /> 10 August 2009: Long-term public membership registration officially opened. The big posters I noticed were almost certainly advertising this exact registration drive, encouraging Dubliners to sign up for their subscriber cards ahead of the bikes hitting the streets.<br /> <br /> The Infrastructure: If you were looking closely around the city centre that same week, you would have seen the first 40 stations and 450 heavy silver-and-blue bike stands physically being bolted into the ground (installation had started that June).</p> infomatique 2009dublininfrastructure dublindocklands dublinstreetphotography dublinurbanregeneration infomatique luasredlineextension luasthepointextension northwallquayhistory photonique riverliffeybridges samuelbeckettbridgeconstruction santiagocalatravadublin sigmadp1camera theurbancartographer williammurphy https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.en https://www.flickr.com/photos/infomatique/55325639725/ <p><a href="https://www.flickr.com/people/infomatique/">infomatique</a> posted a photo:</p> <p><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/infomatique/55325639725/" title="AUGUST 2009 DUBLIN DOCKLANDS WAS DEPRESSING [MUCH ACTIVITY HAD STALLED BUT MUCH WAS ALSO HAPPENING]-268729"><img src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/55325639725_6f06cc484d_m.jpg" width="240" height="160" alt="AUGUST 2009 DUBLIN DOCKLANDS WAS DEPRESSING [MUCH ACTIVITY HAD STALLED BUT MUCH WAS ALSO HAPPENING]-268729" /></a></p> <p>When I visited the Docklands area of the city in early August 2009, the atmosphere was quite bleak, and broader economic activity appeared to be stalled in the wake of the financial crash.<br /> <br /> There were, however, two major infrastructure projects rapidly reshaping the landscape. While a camera metadata error originally misdated my photographs from this session to February, the visual evidence confirms they were captured in August—a fleeting moment just four months before the entire quarter was transformed.<br /> <br /> Here is how the timelines and statuses broke down for both pieces of infrastructure during that August visit:<br /> <br /> 1. The Luas Red Line Extension (C1 to The Point)<br /> <br /> Operational Date: Tuesday, 8 December 2009<br /> Status in August 2009: On schedule and nearing completion.<br /> The Details: Ground was broken on the 1.5 km extension from Busáras to The Point in 2007 with a projected two-year construction timeline. By August 2009, track-laying and utility diversions along Mayor Square and North Wall Quay were entering their final stages, with the streetscape heavily disrupted as workers raced toward the finish line. The project ultimately hit its target, opening comfortably within its late-2009 schedule and budget.<br /> <br /> 2. The Samuel Beckett Bridge<br /> <br /> Operational Date: 10 December 2009 (opened to pedestrians; vehicles the following morning).<br /> Status in August 2009: Structurally spanning the river but surrounded by intensive civil works.<br /> <br /> The Details: If you examine my photographs from this session, the bridge is already spanning the Liffey. The structural steel fabric of Santiago Calatrava’s harp-inspired design was fabricated by Hollandia in Rotterdam and arrived in Dublin Port via barge in May 2009. Just weeks before my visit, on 21 July, the massive structure was successfully rotated across the river and keyed into its concrete pier.<br /> <br /> By August, the bridge structure was intact, but the surrounding quays were a chaotic staging ground filled with pallets of granite paving, kerbing, and construction materials needed to complete the approach roads. While the bridge's broader timeline had slipped over the years due to prolonged planning and funding shifts during the transition from the boom era, it was finally entering the home stretch.<br /> <br /> Both elements fundamentally altered that stretch of the North Wall and Sir John Rogerson's Quays just four months after this photographic survey.<br /> <br /> 3. Another think that caught my attention was advertising for the introduction of DublinBikes<br /> <br /> The dublinbikes scheme officially launched on 13 September 2009, meaning those posters I saw in early August were part of the major pre-launch publicity blitz.<br /> <br /> Late July 2009: Dublin City Council and JCDecaux flooded the media with press releases outlining how the scheme would work. Because it was funded via a controversial deal giving JCDecaux 72 prominent advertising panels across the city in exchange for the bike infrastructure, they pushed the marketing campaign heavily in advance.<br /> <br /> 10 August 2009: Long-term public membership registration officially opened. The big posters I noticed were almost certainly advertising this exact registration drive, encouraging Dubliners to sign up for their subscriber cards ahead of the bikes hitting the streets.<br /> <br /> The Infrastructure: If you were looking closely around the city centre that same week, you would have seen the first 40 stations and 450 heavy silver-and-blue bike stands physically being bolted into the ground (installation had started that June).</p> Tue, 09 Jun 2026 14:17:56 -0700 2009-08-03T13:01:27-08:00 nobody@flickr.com (infomatique) tag:flickr.com,2004:/photo/55325639725 AUGUST 2009 DUBLIN DOCKLANDS WAS DEPRESSING [MUCH ACTIVITY HAD STALLED BUT MUCH WAS ALSO HAPPENING]-268729 <p>When I visited the Docklands area of the city in early August 2009, the atmosphere was quite bleak, and broader economic activity appeared to be stalled in the wake of the financial crash.<br /> <br /> There were, however, two major infrastructure projects rapidly reshaping the landscape. While a camera metadata error originally misdated my photographs from this session to February, the visual evidence confirms they were captured in August—a fleeting moment just four months before the entire quarter was transformed.<br /> <br /> Here is how the timelines and statuses broke down for both pieces of infrastructure during that August visit:<br /> <br /> 1. The Luas Red Line Extension (C1 to The Point)<br /> <br /> Operational Date: Tuesday, 8 December 2009<br /> Status in August 2009: On schedule and nearing completion.<br /> The Details: Ground was broken on the 1.5 km extension from Busáras to The Point in 2007 with a projected two-year construction timeline. By August 2009, track-laying and utility diversions along Mayor Square and North Wall Quay were entering their final stages, with the streetscape heavily disrupted as workers raced toward the finish line. The project ultimately hit its target, opening comfortably within its late-2009 schedule and budget.<br /> <br /> 2. The Samuel Beckett Bridge<br /> <br /> Operational Date: 10 December 2009 (opened to pedestrians; vehicles the following morning).<br /> Status in August 2009: Structurally spanning the river but surrounded by intensive civil works.<br /> <br /> The Details: If you examine my photographs from this session, the bridge is already spanning the Liffey. The structural steel fabric of Santiago Calatrava’s harp-inspired design was fabricated by Hollandia in Rotterdam and arrived in Dublin Port via barge in May 2009. Just weeks before my visit, on 21 July, the massive structure was successfully rotated across the river and keyed into its concrete pier.<br /> <br /> By August, the bridge structure was intact, but the surrounding quays were a chaotic staging ground filled with pallets of granite paving, kerbing, and construction materials needed to complete the approach roads. While the bridge's broader timeline had slipped over the years due to prolonged planning and funding shifts during the transition from the boom era, it was finally entering the home stretch.<br /> <br /> Both elements fundamentally altered that stretch of the North Wall and Sir John Rogerson's Quays just four months after this photographic survey.<br /> <br /> 3. Another think that caught my attention was advertising for the introduction of DublinBikes<br /> <br /> The dublinbikes scheme officially launched on 13 September 2009, meaning those posters I saw in early August were part of the major pre-launch publicity blitz.<br /> <br /> Late July 2009: Dublin City Council and JCDecaux flooded the media with press releases outlining how the scheme would work. Because it was funded via a controversial deal giving JCDecaux 72 prominent advertising panels across the city in exchange for the bike infrastructure, they pushed the marketing campaign heavily in advance.<br /> <br /> 10 August 2009: Long-term public membership registration officially opened. The big posters I noticed were almost certainly advertising this exact registration drive, encouraging Dubliners to sign up for their subscriber cards ahead of the bikes hitting the streets.<br /> <br /> The Infrastructure: If you were looking closely around the city centre that same week, you would have seen the first 40 stations and 450 heavy silver-and-blue bike stands physically being bolted into the ground (installation had started that June).</p> infomatique 2009dublininfrastructure dublindocklands dublinstreetphotography dublinurbanregeneration infomatique luasredlineextension luasthepointextension northwallquayhistory photonique riverliffeybridges samuelbeckettbridgeconstruction santiagocalatravadublin sigmadp1camera theurbancartographer williammurphy https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.en https://www.flickr.com/photos/infomatique/55324320557/ <p><a href="https://www.flickr.com/people/infomatique/">infomatique</a> posted a photo:</p> <p><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/infomatique/55324320557/" title="AUGUST 2009 DUBLIN DOCKLANDS WAS DEPRESSING [MUCH ACTIVITY HAD STALLED BUT MUCH WAS ALSO HAPPENING]-268731"><img src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/55324320557_deefd22dc2_m.jpg" width="240" height="160" alt="AUGUST 2009 DUBLIN DOCKLANDS WAS DEPRESSING [MUCH ACTIVITY HAD STALLED BUT MUCH WAS ALSO HAPPENING]-268731" /></a></p> <p>When I visited the Docklands area of the city in early August 2009, the atmosphere was quite bleak, and broader economic activity appeared to be stalled in the wake of the financial crash.<br /> <br /> There were, however, two major infrastructure projects rapidly reshaping the landscape. While a camera metadata error originally misdated my photographs from this session to February, the visual evidence confirms they were captured in August—a fleeting moment just four months before the entire quarter was transformed.<br /> <br /> Here is how the timelines and statuses broke down for both pieces of infrastructure during that August visit:<br /> <br /> 1. The Luas Red Line Extension (C1 to The Point)<br /> <br /> Operational Date: Tuesday, 8 December 2009<br /> Status in August 2009: On schedule and nearing completion.<br /> The Details: Ground was broken on the 1.5 km extension from Busáras to The Point in 2007 with a projected two-year construction timeline. By August 2009, track-laying and utility diversions along Mayor Square and North Wall Quay were entering their final stages, with the streetscape heavily disrupted as workers raced toward the finish line. The project ultimately hit its target, opening comfortably within its late-2009 schedule and budget.<br /> <br /> 2. The Samuel Beckett Bridge<br /> <br /> Operational Date: 10 December 2009 (opened to pedestrians; vehicles the following morning).<br /> Status in August 2009: Structurally spanning the river but surrounded by intensive civil works.<br /> <br /> The Details: If you examine my photographs from this session, the bridge is already spanning the Liffey. The structural steel fabric of Santiago Calatrava’s harp-inspired design was fabricated by Hollandia in Rotterdam and arrived in Dublin Port via barge in May 2009. Just weeks before my visit, on 21 July, the massive structure was successfully rotated across the river and keyed into its concrete pier.<br /> <br /> By August, the bridge structure was intact, but the surrounding quays were a chaotic staging ground filled with pallets of granite paving, kerbing, and construction materials needed to complete the approach roads. While the bridge's broader timeline had slipped over the years due to prolonged planning and funding shifts during the transition from the boom era, it was finally entering the home stretch.<br /> <br /> Both elements fundamentally altered that stretch of the North Wall and Sir John Rogerson's Quays just four months after this photographic survey.<br /> <br /> 3. Another think that caught my attention was advertising for the introduction of DublinBikes<br /> <br /> The dublinbikes scheme officially launched on 13 September 2009, meaning those posters I saw in early August were part of the major pre-launch publicity blitz.<br /> <br /> Late July 2009: Dublin City Council and JCDecaux flooded the media with press releases outlining how the scheme would work. Because it was funded via a controversial deal giving JCDecaux 72 prominent advertising panels across the city in exchange for the bike infrastructure, they pushed the marketing campaign heavily in advance.<br /> <br /> 10 August 2009: Long-term public membership registration officially opened. The big posters I noticed were almost certainly advertising this exact registration drive, encouraging Dubliners to sign up for their subscriber cards ahead of the bikes hitting the streets.<br /> <br /> The Infrastructure: If you were looking closely around the city centre that same week, you would have seen the first 40 stations and 450 heavy silver-and-blue bike stands physically being bolted into the ground (installation had started that June).</p> Tue, 09 Jun 2026 14:17:56 -0700 2009-08-03T13:02:53-08:00 nobody@flickr.com (infomatique) tag:flickr.com,2004:/photo/55324320557 AUGUST 2009 DUBLIN DOCKLANDS WAS DEPRESSING [MUCH ACTIVITY HAD STALLED BUT MUCH WAS ALSO HAPPENING]-268731 <p>When I visited the Docklands area of the city in early August 2009, the atmosphere was quite bleak, and broader economic activity appeared to be stalled in the wake of the financial crash.<br /> <br /> There were, however, two major infrastructure projects rapidly reshaping the landscape. While a camera metadata error originally misdated my photographs from this session to February, the visual evidence confirms they were captured in August—a fleeting moment just four months before the entire quarter was transformed.<br /> <br /> Here is how the timelines and statuses broke down for both pieces of infrastructure during that August visit:<br /> <br /> 1. The Luas Red Line Extension (C1 to The Point)<br /> <br /> Operational Date: Tuesday, 8 December 2009<br /> Status in August 2009: On schedule and nearing completion.<br /> The Details: Ground was broken on the 1.5 km extension from Busáras to The Point in 2007 with a projected two-year construction timeline. By August 2009, track-laying and utility diversions along Mayor Square and North Wall Quay were entering their final stages, with the streetscape heavily disrupted as workers raced toward the finish line. The project ultimately hit its target, opening comfortably within its late-2009 schedule and budget.<br /> <br /> 2. The Samuel Beckett Bridge<br /> <br /> Operational Date: 10 December 2009 (opened to pedestrians; vehicles the following morning).<br /> Status in August 2009: Structurally spanning the river but surrounded by intensive civil works.<br /> <br /> The Details: If you examine my photographs from this session, the bridge is already spanning the Liffey. The structural steel fabric of Santiago Calatrava’s harp-inspired design was fabricated by Hollandia in Rotterdam and arrived in Dublin Port via barge in May 2009. Just weeks before my visit, on 21 July, the massive structure was successfully rotated across the river and keyed into its concrete pier.<br /> <br /> By August, the bridge structure was intact, but the surrounding quays were a chaotic staging ground filled with pallets of granite paving, kerbing, and construction materials needed to complete the approach roads. While the bridge's broader timeline had slipped over the years due to prolonged planning and funding shifts during the transition from the boom era, it was finally entering the home stretch.<br /> <br /> Both elements fundamentally altered that stretch of the North Wall and Sir John Rogerson's Quays just four months after this photographic survey.<br /> <br /> 3. Another think that caught my attention was advertising for the introduction of DublinBikes<br /> <br /> The dublinbikes scheme officially launched on 13 September 2009, meaning those posters I saw in early August were part of the major pre-launch publicity blitz.<br /> <br /> Late July 2009: Dublin City Council and JCDecaux flooded the media with press releases outlining how the scheme would work. Because it was funded via a controversial deal giving JCDecaux 72 prominent advertising panels across the city in exchange for the bike infrastructure, they pushed the marketing campaign heavily in advance.<br /> <br /> 10 August 2009: Long-term public membership registration officially opened. The big posters I noticed were almost certainly advertising this exact registration drive, encouraging Dubliners to sign up for their subscriber cards ahead of the bikes hitting the streets.<br /> <br /> The Infrastructure: If you were looking closely around the city centre that same week, you would have seen the first 40 stations and 450 heavy silver-and-blue bike stands physically being bolted into the ground (installation had started that June).</p> infomatique 2009dublininfrastructure dublindocklands dublinstreetphotography dublinurbanregeneration infomatique luasredlineextension luasthepointextension northwallquayhistory photonique riverliffeybridges samuelbeckettbridgeconstruction santiagocalatravadublin sigmadp1camera theurbancartographer williammurphy https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.en https://www.flickr.com/photos/infomatique/55325448924/ <p><a href="https://www.flickr.com/people/infomatique/">infomatique</a> posted a photo:</p> <p><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/infomatique/55325448924/" title="AUGUST 2009 DUBLIN DOCKLANDS WAS DEPRESSING [MUCH ACTIVITY HAD STALLED BUT MUCH WAS ALSO HAPPENING]-268733"><img src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/55325448924_0c948b2ff2_m.jpg" width="240" height="160" alt="AUGUST 2009 DUBLIN DOCKLANDS WAS DEPRESSING [MUCH ACTIVITY HAD STALLED BUT MUCH WAS ALSO HAPPENING]-268733" /></a></p> <p>When I visited the Docklands area of the city in early August 2009, the atmosphere was quite bleak, and broader economic activity appeared to be stalled in the wake of the financial crash.<br /> <br /> There were, however, two major infrastructure projects rapidly reshaping the landscape. While a camera metadata error originally misdated my photographs from this session to February, the visual evidence confirms they were captured in August—a fleeting moment just four months before the entire quarter was transformed.<br /> <br /> Here is how the timelines and statuses broke down for both pieces of infrastructure during that August visit:<br /> <br /> 1. The Luas Red Line Extension (C1 to The Point)<br /> <br /> Operational Date: Tuesday, 8 December 2009<br /> Status in August 2009: On schedule and nearing completion.<br /> The Details: Ground was broken on the 1.5 km extension from Busáras to The Point in 2007 with a projected two-year construction timeline. By August 2009, track-laying and utility diversions along Mayor Square and North Wall Quay were entering their final stages, with the streetscape heavily disrupted as workers raced toward the finish line. The project ultimately hit its target, opening comfortably within its late-2009 schedule and budget.<br /> <br /> 2. The Samuel Beckett Bridge<br /> <br /> Operational Date: 10 December 2009 (opened to pedestrians; vehicles the following morning).<br /> Status in August 2009: Structurally spanning the river but surrounded by intensive civil works.<br /> <br /> The Details: If you examine my photographs from this session, the bridge is already spanning the Liffey. The structural steel fabric of Santiago Calatrava’s harp-inspired design was fabricated by Hollandia in Rotterdam and arrived in Dublin Port via barge in May 2009. Just weeks before my visit, on 21 July, the massive structure was successfully rotated across the river and keyed into its concrete pier.<br /> <br /> By August, the bridge structure was intact, but the surrounding quays were a chaotic staging ground filled with pallets of granite paving, kerbing, and construction materials needed to complete the approach roads. While the bridge's broader timeline had slipped over the years due to prolonged planning and funding shifts during the transition from the boom era, it was finally entering the home stretch.<br /> <br /> Both elements fundamentally altered that stretch of the North Wall and Sir John Rogerson's Quays just four months after this photographic survey.<br /> <br /> 3. Another think that caught my attention was advertising for the introduction of DublinBikes<br /> <br /> The dublinbikes scheme officially launched on 13 September 2009, meaning those posters I saw in early August were part of the major pre-launch publicity blitz.<br /> <br /> Late July 2009: Dublin City Council and JCDecaux flooded the media with press releases outlining how the scheme would work. Because it was funded via a controversial deal giving JCDecaux 72 prominent advertising panels across the city in exchange for the bike infrastructure, they pushed the marketing campaign heavily in advance.<br /> <br /> 10 August 2009: Long-term public membership registration officially opened. The big posters I noticed were almost certainly advertising this exact registration drive, encouraging Dubliners to sign up for their subscriber cards ahead of the bikes hitting the streets.<br /> <br /> The Infrastructure: If you were looking closely around the city centre that same week, you would have seen the first 40 stations and 450 heavy silver-and-blue bike stands physically being bolted into the ground (installation had started that June).</p> Tue, 09 Jun 2026 14:17:55 -0700 2009-08-03T13:03:50-08:00 nobody@flickr.com (infomatique) tag:flickr.com,2004:/photo/55325448924 AUGUST 2009 DUBLIN DOCKLANDS WAS DEPRESSING [MUCH ACTIVITY HAD STALLED BUT MUCH WAS ALSO HAPPENING]-268733 <p>When I visited the Docklands area of the city in early August 2009, the atmosphere was quite bleak, and broader economic activity appeared to be stalled in the wake of the financial crash.<br /> <br /> There were, however, two major infrastructure projects rapidly reshaping the landscape. While a camera metadata error originally misdated my photographs from this session to February, the visual evidence confirms they were captured in August—a fleeting moment just four months before the entire quarter was transformed.<br /> <br /> Here is how the timelines and statuses broke down for both pieces of infrastructure during that August visit:<br /> <br /> 1. The Luas Red Line Extension (C1 to The Point)<br /> <br /> Operational Date: Tuesday, 8 December 2009<br /> Status in August 2009: On schedule and nearing completion.<br /> The Details: Ground was broken on the 1.5 km extension from Busáras to The Point in 2007 with a projected two-year construction timeline. By August 2009, track-laying and utility diversions along Mayor Square and North Wall Quay were entering their final stages, with the streetscape heavily disrupted as workers raced toward the finish line. The project ultimately hit its target, opening comfortably within its late-2009 schedule and budget.<br /> <br /> 2. The Samuel Beckett Bridge<br /> <br /> Operational Date: 10 December 2009 (opened to pedestrians; vehicles the following morning).<br /> Status in August 2009: Structurally spanning the river but surrounded by intensive civil works.<br /> <br /> The Details: If you examine my photographs from this session, the bridge is already spanning the Liffey. The structural steel fabric of Santiago Calatrava’s harp-inspired design was fabricated by Hollandia in Rotterdam and arrived in Dublin Port via barge in May 2009. Just weeks before my visit, on 21 July, the massive structure was successfully rotated across the river and keyed into its concrete pier.<br /> <br /> By August, the bridge structure was intact, but the surrounding quays were a chaotic staging ground filled with pallets of granite paving, kerbing, and construction materials needed to complete the approach roads. While the bridge's broader timeline had slipped over the years due to prolonged planning and funding shifts during the transition from the boom era, it was finally entering the home stretch.<br /> <br /> Both elements fundamentally altered that stretch of the North Wall and Sir John Rogerson's Quays just four months after this photographic survey.<br /> <br /> 3. Another think that caught my attention was advertising for the introduction of DublinBikes<br /> <br /> The dublinbikes scheme officially launched on 13 September 2009, meaning those posters I saw in early August were part of the major pre-launch publicity blitz.<br /> <br /> Late July 2009: Dublin City Council and JCDecaux flooded the media with press releases outlining how the scheme would work. Because it was funded via a controversial deal giving JCDecaux 72 prominent advertising panels across the city in exchange for the bike infrastructure, they pushed the marketing campaign heavily in advance.<br /> <br /> 10 August 2009: Long-term public membership registration officially opened. The big posters I noticed were almost certainly advertising this exact registration drive, encouraging Dubliners to sign up for their subscriber cards ahead of the bikes hitting the streets.<br /> <br /> The Infrastructure: If you were looking closely around the city centre that same week, you would have seen the first 40 stations and 450 heavy silver-and-blue bike stands physically being bolted into the ground (installation had started that June).</p> infomatique 2009dublininfrastructure dublindocklands dublinstreetphotography dublinurbanregeneration infomatique luasredlineextension luasthepointextension northwallquayhistory photonique riverliffeybridges samuelbeckettbridgeconstruction santiagocalatravadublin sigmadp1camera theurbancartographer williammurphy https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.en https://www.flickr.com/photos/infomatique/55325388763/ <p><a href="https://www.flickr.com/people/infomatique/">infomatique</a> posted a photo:</p> <p><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/infomatique/55325388763/" title="AUGUST 2009 DUBLIN DOCKLANDS WAS DEPRESSING [MUCH ACTIVITY HAD STALLED BUT MUCH WAS ALSO HAPPENING]-268732"><img src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/55325388763_d99b399c82_m.jpg" width="240" height="160" alt="AUGUST 2009 DUBLIN DOCKLANDS WAS DEPRESSING [MUCH ACTIVITY HAD STALLED BUT MUCH WAS ALSO HAPPENING]-268732" /></a></p> <p>When I visited the Docklands area of the city in early August 2009, the atmosphere was quite bleak, and broader economic activity appeared to be stalled in the wake of the financial crash.<br /> <br /> There were, however, two major infrastructure projects rapidly reshaping the landscape. While a camera metadata error originally misdated my photographs from this session to February, the visual evidence confirms they were captured in August—a fleeting moment just four months before the entire quarter was transformed.<br /> <br /> Here is how the timelines and statuses broke down for both pieces of infrastructure during that August visit:<br /> <br /> 1. The Luas Red Line Extension (C1 to The Point)<br /> <br /> Operational Date: Tuesday, 8 December 2009<br /> Status in August 2009: On schedule and nearing completion.<br /> The Details: Ground was broken on the 1.5 km extension from Busáras to The Point in 2007 with a projected two-year construction timeline. By August 2009, track-laying and utility diversions along Mayor Square and North Wall Quay were entering their final stages, with the streetscape heavily disrupted as workers raced toward the finish line. The project ultimately hit its target, opening comfortably within its late-2009 schedule and budget.<br /> <br /> 2. The Samuel Beckett Bridge<br /> <br /> Operational Date: 10 December 2009 (opened to pedestrians; vehicles the following morning).<br /> Status in August 2009: Structurally spanning the river but surrounded by intensive civil works.<br /> <br /> The Details: If you examine my photographs from this session, the bridge is already spanning the Liffey. The structural steel fabric of Santiago Calatrava’s harp-inspired design was fabricated by Hollandia in Rotterdam and arrived in Dublin Port via barge in May 2009. Just weeks before my visit, on 21 July, the massive structure was successfully rotated across the river and keyed into its concrete pier.<br /> <br /> By August, the bridge structure was intact, but the surrounding quays were a chaotic staging ground filled with pallets of granite paving, kerbing, and construction materials needed to complete the approach roads. While the bridge's broader timeline had slipped over the years due to prolonged planning and funding shifts during the transition from the boom era, it was finally entering the home stretch.<br /> <br /> Both elements fundamentally altered that stretch of the North Wall and Sir John Rogerson's Quays just four months after this photographic survey.<br /> <br /> 3. Another think that caught my attention was advertising for the introduction of DublinBikes<br /> <br /> The dublinbikes scheme officially launched on 13 September 2009, meaning those posters I saw in early August were part of the major pre-launch publicity blitz.<br /> <br /> Late July 2009: Dublin City Council and JCDecaux flooded the media with press releases outlining how the scheme would work. Because it was funded via a controversial deal giving JCDecaux 72 prominent advertising panels across the city in exchange for the bike infrastructure, they pushed the marketing campaign heavily in advance.<br /> <br /> 10 August 2009: Long-term public membership registration officially opened. The big posters I noticed were almost certainly advertising this exact registration drive, encouraging Dubliners to sign up for their subscriber cards ahead of the bikes hitting the streets.<br /> <br /> The Infrastructure: If you were looking closely around the city centre that same week, you would have seen the first 40 stations and 450 heavy silver-and-blue bike stands physically being bolted into the ground (installation had started that June).</p> Tue, 09 Jun 2026 14:17:55 -0700 2009-08-03T13:03:11-08:00 nobody@flickr.com (infomatique) tag:flickr.com,2004:/photo/55325388763 AUGUST 2009 DUBLIN DOCKLANDS WAS DEPRESSING [MUCH ACTIVITY HAD STALLED BUT MUCH WAS ALSO HAPPENING]-268732 <p>When I visited the Docklands area of the city in early August 2009, the atmosphere was quite bleak, and broader economic activity appeared to be stalled in the wake of the financial crash.<br /> <br /> There were, however, two major infrastructure projects rapidly reshaping the landscape. While a camera metadata error originally misdated my photographs from this session to February, the visual evidence confirms they were captured in August—a fleeting moment just four months before the entire quarter was transformed.<br /> <br /> Here is how the timelines and statuses broke down for both pieces of infrastructure during that August visit:<br /> <br /> 1. The Luas Red Line Extension (C1 to The Point)<br /> <br /> Operational Date: Tuesday, 8 December 2009<br /> Status in August 2009: On schedule and nearing completion.<br /> The Details: Ground was broken on the 1.5 km extension from Busáras to The Point in 2007 with a projected two-year construction timeline. By August 2009, track-laying and utility diversions along Mayor Square and North Wall Quay were entering their final stages, with the streetscape heavily disrupted as workers raced toward the finish line. The project ultimately hit its target, opening comfortably within its late-2009 schedule and budget.<br /> <br /> 2. The Samuel Beckett Bridge<br /> <br /> Operational Date: 10 December 2009 (opened to pedestrians; vehicles the following morning).<br /> Status in August 2009: Structurally spanning the river but surrounded by intensive civil works.<br /> <br /> The Details: If you examine my photographs from this session, the bridge is already spanning the Liffey. The structural steel fabric of Santiago Calatrava’s harp-inspired design was fabricated by Hollandia in Rotterdam and arrived in Dublin Port via barge in May 2009. Just weeks before my visit, on 21 July, the massive structure was successfully rotated across the river and keyed into its concrete pier.<br /> <br /> By August, the bridge structure was intact, but the surrounding quays were a chaotic staging ground filled with pallets of granite paving, kerbing, and construction materials needed to complete the approach roads. While the bridge's broader timeline had slipped over the years due to prolonged planning and funding shifts during the transition from the boom era, it was finally entering the home stretch.<br /> <br /> Both elements fundamentally altered that stretch of the North Wall and Sir John Rogerson's Quays just four months after this photographic survey.<br /> <br /> 3. Another think that caught my attention was advertising for the introduction of DublinBikes<br /> <br /> The dublinbikes scheme officially launched on 13 September 2009, meaning those posters I saw in early August were part of the major pre-launch publicity blitz.<br /> <br /> Late July 2009: Dublin City Council and JCDecaux flooded the media with press releases outlining how the scheme would work. Because it was funded via a controversial deal giving JCDecaux 72 prominent advertising panels across the city in exchange for the bike infrastructure, they pushed the marketing campaign heavily in advance.<br /> <br /> 10 August 2009: Long-term public membership registration officially opened. The big posters I noticed were almost certainly advertising this exact registration drive, encouraging Dubliners to sign up for their subscriber cards ahead of the bikes hitting the streets.<br /> <br /> The Infrastructure: If you were looking closely around the city centre that same week, you would have seen the first 40 stations and 450 heavy silver-and-blue bike stands physically being bolted into the ground (installation had started that June).</p> infomatique 2009dublininfrastructure dublindocklands dublinstreetphotography dublinurbanregeneration infomatique luasredlineextension luasthepointextension northwallquayhistory photonique riverliffeybridges samuelbeckettbridgeconstruction santiagocalatravadublin sigmadp1camera theurbancartographer williammurphy https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.en https://www.flickr.com/photos/infomatique/55325639785/ <p><a href="https://www.flickr.com/people/infomatique/">infomatique</a> posted a photo:</p> <p><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/infomatique/55325639785/" title="AUGUST 2009 DUBLIN DOCKLANDS WAS DEPRESSING [MUCH ACTIVITY HAD STALLED BUT MUCH WAS ALSO HAPPENING]-268734"><img src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/55325639785_fd2ee053db_m.jpg" width="240" height="160" alt="AUGUST 2009 DUBLIN DOCKLANDS WAS DEPRESSING [MUCH ACTIVITY HAD STALLED BUT MUCH WAS ALSO HAPPENING]-268734" /></a></p> <p>When I visited the Docklands area of the city in early August 2009, the atmosphere was quite bleak, and broader economic activity appeared to be stalled in the wake of the financial crash.<br /> <br /> There were, however, two major infrastructure projects rapidly reshaping the landscape. While a camera metadata error originally misdated my photographs from this session to February, the visual evidence confirms they were captured in August—a fleeting moment just four months before the entire quarter was transformed.<br /> <br /> Here is how the timelines and statuses broke down for both pieces of infrastructure during that August visit:<br /> <br /> 1. The Luas Red Line Extension (C1 to The Point)<br /> <br /> Operational Date: Tuesday, 8 December 2009<br /> Status in August 2009: On schedule and nearing completion.<br /> The Details: Ground was broken on the 1.5 km extension from Busáras to The Point in 2007 with a projected two-year construction timeline. By August 2009, track-laying and utility diversions along Mayor Square and North Wall Quay were entering their final stages, with the streetscape heavily disrupted as workers raced toward the finish line. The project ultimately hit its target, opening comfortably within its late-2009 schedule and budget.<br /> <br /> 2. The Samuel Beckett Bridge<br /> <br /> Operational Date: 10 December 2009 (opened to pedestrians; vehicles the following morning).<br /> Status in August 2009: Structurally spanning the river but surrounded by intensive civil works.<br /> <br /> The Details: If you examine my photographs from this session, the bridge is already spanning the Liffey. The structural steel fabric of Santiago Calatrava’s harp-inspired design was fabricated by Hollandia in Rotterdam and arrived in Dublin Port via barge in May 2009. Just weeks before my visit, on 21 July, the massive structure was successfully rotated across the river and keyed into its concrete pier.<br /> <br /> By August, the bridge structure was intact, but the surrounding quays were a chaotic staging ground filled with pallets of granite paving, kerbing, and construction materials needed to complete the approach roads. While the bridge's broader timeline had slipped over the years due to prolonged planning and funding shifts during the transition from the boom era, it was finally entering the home stretch.<br /> <br /> Both elements fundamentally altered that stretch of the North Wall and Sir John Rogerson's Quays just four months after this photographic survey.<br /> <br /> 3. Another think that caught my attention was advertising for the introduction of DublinBikes<br /> <br /> The dublinbikes scheme officially launched on 13 September 2009, meaning those posters I saw in early August were part of the major pre-launch publicity blitz.<br /> <br /> Late July 2009: Dublin City Council and JCDecaux flooded the media with press releases outlining how the scheme would work. Because it was funded via a controversial deal giving JCDecaux 72 prominent advertising panels across the city in exchange for the bike infrastructure, they pushed the marketing campaign heavily in advance.<br /> <br /> 10 August 2009: Long-term public membership registration officially opened. The big posters I noticed were almost certainly advertising this exact registration drive, encouraging Dubliners to sign up for their subscriber cards ahead of the bikes hitting the streets.<br /> <br /> The Infrastructure: If you were looking closely around the city centre that same week, you would have seen the first 40 stations and 450 heavy silver-and-blue bike stands physically being bolted into the ground (installation had started that June).</p> Tue, 09 Jun 2026 14:17:54 -0700 2009-08-03T13:07:21-08:00 nobody@flickr.com (infomatique) tag:flickr.com,2004:/photo/55325639785 AUGUST 2009 DUBLIN DOCKLANDS WAS DEPRESSING [MUCH ACTIVITY HAD STALLED BUT MUCH WAS ALSO HAPPENING]-268734 <p>When I visited the Docklands area of the city in early August 2009, the atmosphere was quite bleak, and broader economic activity appeared to be stalled in the wake of the financial crash.<br /> <br /> There were, however, two major infrastructure projects rapidly reshaping the landscape. While a camera metadata error originally misdated my photographs from this session to February, the visual evidence confirms they were captured in August—a fleeting moment just four months before the entire quarter was transformed.<br /> <br /> Here is how the timelines and statuses broke down for both pieces of infrastructure during that August visit:<br /> <br /> 1. The Luas Red Line Extension (C1 to The Point)<br /> <br /> Operational Date: Tuesday, 8 December 2009<br /> Status in August 2009: On schedule and nearing completion.<br /> The Details: Ground was broken on the 1.5 km extension from Busáras to The Point in 2007 with a projected two-year construction timeline. By August 2009, track-laying and utility diversions along Mayor Square and North Wall Quay were entering their final stages, with the streetscape heavily disrupted as workers raced toward the finish line. The project ultimately hit its target, opening comfortably within its late-2009 schedule and budget.<br /> <br /> 2. The Samuel Beckett Bridge<br /> <br /> Operational Date: 10 December 2009 (opened to pedestrians; vehicles the following morning).<br /> Status in August 2009: Structurally spanning the river but surrounded by intensive civil works.<br /> <br /> The Details: If you examine my photographs from this session, the bridge is already spanning the Liffey. The structural steel fabric of Santiago Calatrava’s harp-inspired design was fabricated by Hollandia in Rotterdam and arrived in Dublin Port via barge in May 2009. Just weeks before my visit, on 21 July, the massive structure was successfully rotated across the river and keyed into its concrete pier.<br /> <br /> By August, the bridge structure was intact, but the surrounding quays were a chaotic staging ground filled with pallets of granite paving, kerbing, and construction materials needed to complete the approach roads. While the bridge's broader timeline had slipped over the years due to prolonged planning and funding shifts during the transition from the boom era, it was finally entering the home stretch.<br /> <br /> Both elements fundamentally altered that stretch of the North Wall and Sir John Rogerson's Quays just four months after this photographic survey.<br /> <br /> 3. Another think that caught my attention was advertising for the introduction of DublinBikes<br /> <br /> The dublinbikes scheme officially launched on 13 September 2009, meaning those posters I saw in early August were part of the major pre-launch publicity blitz.<br /> <br /> Late July 2009: Dublin City Council and JCDecaux flooded the media with press releases outlining how the scheme would work. Because it was funded via a controversial deal giving JCDecaux 72 prominent advertising panels across the city in exchange for the bike infrastructure, they pushed the marketing campaign heavily in advance.<br /> <br /> 10 August 2009: Long-term public membership registration officially opened. The big posters I noticed were almost certainly advertising this exact registration drive, encouraging Dubliners to sign up for their subscriber cards ahead of the bikes hitting the streets.<br /> <br /> The Infrastructure: If you were looking closely around the city centre that same week, you would have seen the first 40 stations and 450 heavy silver-and-blue bike stands physically being bolted into the ground (installation had started that June).</p> infomatique 2009dublininfrastructure dublindocklands dublinstreetphotography dublinurbanregeneration infomatique luasredlineextension luasthepointextension northwallquayhistory photonique riverliffeybridges samuelbeckettbridgeconstruction santiagocalatravadublin sigmadp1camera theurbancartographer williammurphy https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.en https://www.flickr.com/photos/infomatique/55325639795/ <p><a href="https://www.flickr.com/people/infomatique/">infomatique</a> posted a photo:</p> <p><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/infomatique/55325639795/" title="AUGUST 2009 DUBLIN DOCKLANDS WAS DEPRESSING [MUCH ACTIVITY HAD STALLED BUT MUCH WAS ALSO HAPPENING]-268736"><img src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/55325639795_c189f7828c_m.jpg" width="240" height="160" alt="AUGUST 2009 DUBLIN DOCKLANDS WAS DEPRESSING [MUCH ACTIVITY HAD STALLED BUT MUCH WAS ALSO HAPPENING]-268736" /></a></p> <p>When I visited the Docklands area of the city in early August 2009, the atmosphere was quite bleak, and broader economic activity appeared to be stalled in the wake of the financial crash.<br /> <br /> There were, however, two major infrastructure projects rapidly reshaping the landscape. While a camera metadata error originally misdated my photographs from this session to February, the visual evidence confirms they were captured in August—a fleeting moment just four months before the entire quarter was transformed.<br /> <br /> Here is how the timelines and statuses broke down for both pieces of infrastructure during that August visit:<br /> <br /> 1. The Luas Red Line Extension (C1 to The Point)<br /> <br /> Operational Date: Tuesday, 8 December 2009<br /> Status in August 2009: On schedule and nearing completion.<br /> The Details: Ground was broken on the 1.5 km extension from Busáras to The Point in 2007 with a projected two-year construction timeline. By August 2009, track-laying and utility diversions along Mayor Square and North Wall Quay were entering their final stages, with the streetscape heavily disrupted as workers raced toward the finish line. The project ultimately hit its target, opening comfortably within its late-2009 schedule and budget.<br /> <br /> 2. The Samuel Beckett Bridge<br /> <br /> Operational Date: 10 December 2009 (opened to pedestrians; vehicles the following morning).<br /> Status in August 2009: Structurally spanning the river but surrounded by intensive civil works.<br /> <br /> The Details: If you examine my photographs from this session, the bridge is already spanning the Liffey. The structural steel fabric of Santiago Calatrava’s harp-inspired design was fabricated by Hollandia in Rotterdam and arrived in Dublin Port via barge in May 2009. Just weeks before my visit, on 21 July, the massive structure was successfully rotated across the river and keyed into its concrete pier.<br /> <br /> By August, the bridge structure was intact, but the surrounding quays were a chaotic staging ground filled with pallets of granite paving, kerbing, and construction materials needed to complete the approach roads. While the bridge's broader timeline had slipped over the years due to prolonged planning and funding shifts during the transition from the boom era, it was finally entering the home stretch.<br /> <br /> Both elements fundamentally altered that stretch of the North Wall and Sir John Rogerson's Quays just four months after this photographic survey.<br /> <br /> 3. Another think that caught my attention was advertising for the introduction of DublinBikes<br /> <br /> The dublinbikes scheme officially launched on 13 September 2009, meaning those posters I saw in early August were part of the major pre-launch publicity blitz.<br /> <br /> Late July 2009: Dublin City Council and JCDecaux flooded the media with press releases outlining how the scheme would work. Because it was funded via a controversial deal giving JCDecaux 72 prominent advertising panels across the city in exchange for the bike infrastructure, they pushed the marketing campaign heavily in advance.<br /> <br /> 10 August 2009: Long-term public membership registration officially opened. The big posters I noticed were almost certainly advertising this exact registration drive, encouraging Dubliners to sign up for their subscriber cards ahead of the bikes hitting the streets.<br /> <br /> The Infrastructure: If you were looking closely around the city centre that same week, you would have seen the first 40 stations and 450 heavy silver-and-blue bike stands physically being bolted into the ground (installation had started that June).</p> Tue, 09 Jun 2026 14:17:53 -0700 2009-08-03T13:08:19-08:00 nobody@flickr.com (infomatique) tag:flickr.com,2004:/photo/55325639795 AUGUST 2009 DUBLIN DOCKLANDS WAS DEPRESSING [MUCH ACTIVITY HAD STALLED BUT MUCH WAS ALSO HAPPENING]-268736 <p>When I visited the Docklands area of the city in early August 2009, the atmosphere was quite bleak, and broader economic activity appeared to be stalled in the wake of the financial crash.<br /> <br /> There were, however, two major infrastructure projects rapidly reshaping the landscape. While a camera metadata error originally misdated my photographs from this session to February, the visual evidence confirms they were captured in August—a fleeting moment just four months before the entire quarter was transformed.<br /> <br /> Here is how the timelines and statuses broke down for both pieces of infrastructure during that August visit:<br /> <br /> 1. The Luas Red Line Extension (C1 to The Point)<br /> <br /> Operational Date: Tuesday, 8 December 2009<br /> Status in August 2009: On schedule and nearing completion.<br /> The Details: Ground was broken on the 1.5 km extension from Busáras to The Point in 2007 with a projected two-year construction timeline. By August 2009, track-laying and utility diversions along Mayor Square and North Wall Quay were entering their final stages, with the streetscape heavily disrupted as workers raced toward the finish line. The project ultimately hit its target, opening comfortably within its late-2009 schedule and budget.<br /> <br /> 2. The Samuel Beckett Bridge<br /> <br /> Operational Date: 10 December 2009 (opened to pedestrians; vehicles the following morning).<br /> Status in August 2009: Structurally spanning the river but surrounded by intensive civil works.<br /> <br /> The Details: If you examine my photographs from this session, the bridge is already spanning the Liffey. The structural steel fabric of Santiago Calatrava’s harp-inspired design was fabricated by Hollandia in Rotterdam and arrived in Dublin Port via barge in May 2009. Just weeks before my visit, on 21 July, the massive structure was successfully rotated across the river and keyed into its concrete pier.<br /> <br /> By August, the bridge structure was intact, but the surrounding quays were a chaotic staging ground filled with pallets of granite paving, kerbing, and construction materials needed to complete the approach roads. While the bridge's broader timeline had slipped over the years due to prolonged planning and funding shifts during the transition from the boom era, it was finally entering the home stretch.<br /> <br /> Both elements fundamentally altered that stretch of the North Wall and Sir John Rogerson's Quays just four months after this photographic survey.<br /> <br /> 3. Another think that caught my attention was advertising for the introduction of DublinBikes<br /> <br /> The dublinbikes scheme officially launched on 13 September 2009, meaning those posters I saw in early August were part of the major pre-launch publicity blitz.<br /> <br /> Late July 2009: Dublin City Council and JCDecaux flooded the media with press releases outlining how the scheme would work. Because it was funded via a controversial deal giving JCDecaux 72 prominent advertising panels across the city in exchange for the bike infrastructure, they pushed the marketing campaign heavily in advance.<br /> <br /> 10 August 2009: Long-term public membership registration officially opened. The big posters I noticed were almost certainly advertising this exact registration drive, encouraging Dubliners to sign up for their subscriber cards ahead of the bikes hitting the streets.<br /> <br /> The Infrastructure: If you were looking closely around the city centre that same week, you would have seen the first 40 stations and 450 heavy silver-and-blue bike stands physically being bolted into the ground (installation had started that June).</p> infomatique 2009dublininfrastructure dublindocklands dublinstreetphotography dublinurbanregeneration infomatique luasredlineextension luasthepointextension northwallquayhistory photonique riverliffeybridges samuelbeckettbridgeconstruction santiagocalatravadublin sigmadp1camera theurbancartographer williammurphy https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.en https://www.flickr.com/photos/infomatique/55325448979/ <p><a href="https://www.flickr.com/people/infomatique/">infomatique</a> posted a photo:</p> <p><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/infomatique/55325448979/" title="AUGUST 2009 DUBLIN DOCKLANDS WAS DEPRESSING [MUCH ACTIVITY HAD STALLED BUT MUCH WAS ALSO HAPPENING]-268735"><img src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/55325448979_924c778697_m.jpg" width="240" height="160" alt="AUGUST 2009 DUBLIN DOCKLANDS WAS DEPRESSING [MUCH ACTIVITY HAD STALLED BUT MUCH WAS ALSO HAPPENING]-268735" /></a></p> <p>When I visited the Docklands area of the city in early August 2009, the atmosphere was quite bleak, and broader economic activity appeared to be stalled in the wake of the financial crash.<br /> <br /> There were, however, two major infrastructure projects rapidly reshaping the landscape. While a camera metadata error originally misdated my photographs from this session to February, the visual evidence confirms they were captured in August—a fleeting moment just four months before the entire quarter was transformed.<br /> <br /> Here is how the timelines and statuses broke down for both pieces of infrastructure during that August visit:<br /> <br /> 1. The Luas Red Line Extension (C1 to The Point)<br /> <br /> Operational Date: Tuesday, 8 December 2009<br /> Status in August 2009: On schedule and nearing completion.<br /> The Details: Ground was broken on the 1.5 km extension from Busáras to The Point in 2007 with a projected two-year construction timeline. By August 2009, track-laying and utility diversions along Mayor Square and North Wall Quay were entering their final stages, with the streetscape heavily disrupted as workers raced toward the finish line. The project ultimately hit its target, opening comfortably within its late-2009 schedule and budget.<br /> <br /> 2. The Samuel Beckett Bridge<br /> <br /> Operational Date: 10 December 2009 (opened to pedestrians; vehicles the following morning).<br /> Status in August 2009: Structurally spanning the river but surrounded by intensive civil works.<br /> <br /> The Details: If you examine my photographs from this session, the bridge is already spanning the Liffey. The structural steel fabric of Santiago Calatrava’s harp-inspired design was fabricated by Hollandia in Rotterdam and arrived in Dublin Port via barge in May 2009. Just weeks before my visit, on 21 July, the massive structure was successfully rotated across the river and keyed into its concrete pier.<br /> <br /> By August, the bridge structure was intact, but the surrounding quays were a chaotic staging ground filled with pallets of granite paving, kerbing, and construction materials needed to complete the approach roads. While the bridge's broader timeline had slipped over the years due to prolonged planning and funding shifts during the transition from the boom era, it was finally entering the home stretch.<br /> <br /> Both elements fundamentally altered that stretch of the North Wall and Sir John Rogerson's Quays just four months after this photographic survey.<br /> <br /> 3. Another think that caught my attention was advertising for the introduction of DublinBikes<br /> <br /> The dublinbikes scheme officially launched on 13 September 2009, meaning those posters I saw in early August were part of the major pre-launch publicity blitz.<br /> <br /> Late July 2009: Dublin City Council and JCDecaux flooded the media with press releases outlining how the scheme would work. Because it was funded via a controversial deal giving JCDecaux 72 prominent advertising panels across the city in exchange for the bike infrastructure, they pushed the marketing campaign heavily in advance.<br /> <br /> 10 August 2009: Long-term public membership registration officially opened. The big posters I noticed were almost certainly advertising this exact registration drive, encouraging Dubliners to sign up for their subscriber cards ahead of the bikes hitting the streets.<br /> <br /> The Infrastructure: If you were looking closely around the city centre that same week, you would have seen the first 40 stations and 450 heavy silver-and-blue bike stands physically being bolted into the ground (installation had started that June).</p> Tue, 09 Jun 2026 14:17:53 -0700 2009-08-03T13:07:45-08:00 nobody@flickr.com (infomatique) tag:flickr.com,2004:/photo/55325448979 AUGUST 2009 DUBLIN DOCKLANDS WAS DEPRESSING [MUCH ACTIVITY HAD STALLED BUT MUCH WAS ALSO HAPPENING]-268735 <p>When I visited the Docklands area of the city in early August 2009, the atmosphere was quite bleak, and broader economic activity appeared to be stalled in the wake of the financial crash.<br /> <br /> There were, however, two major infrastructure projects rapidly reshaping the landscape. While a camera metadata error originally misdated my photographs from this session to February, the visual evidence confirms they were captured in August—a fleeting moment just four months before the entire quarter was transformed.<br /> <br /> Here is how the timelines and statuses broke down for both pieces of infrastructure during that August visit:<br /> <br /> 1. The Luas Red Line Extension (C1 to The Point)<br /> <br /> Operational Date: Tuesday, 8 December 2009<br /> Status in August 2009: On schedule and nearing completion.<br /> The Details: Ground was broken on the 1.5 km extension from Busáras to The Point in 2007 with a projected two-year construction timeline. By August 2009, track-laying and utility diversions along Mayor Square and North Wall Quay were entering their final stages, with the streetscape heavily disrupted as workers raced toward the finish line. The project ultimately hit its target, opening comfortably within its late-2009 schedule and budget.<br /> <br /> 2. The Samuel Beckett Bridge<br /> <br /> Operational Date: 10 December 2009 (opened to pedestrians; vehicles the following morning).<br /> Status in August 2009: Structurally spanning the river but surrounded by intensive civil works.<br /> <br /> The Details: If you examine my photographs from this session, the bridge is already spanning the Liffey. The structural steel fabric of Santiago Calatrava’s harp-inspired design was fabricated by Hollandia in Rotterdam and arrived in Dublin Port via barge in May 2009. Just weeks before my visit, on 21 July, the massive structure was successfully rotated across the river and keyed into its concrete pier.<br /> <br /> By August, the bridge structure was intact, but the surrounding quays were a chaotic staging ground filled with pallets of granite paving, kerbing, and construction materials needed to complete the approach roads. While the bridge's broader timeline had slipped over the years due to prolonged planning and funding shifts during the transition from the boom era, it was finally entering the home stretch.<br /> <br /> Both elements fundamentally altered that stretch of the North Wall and Sir John Rogerson's Quays just four months after this photographic survey.<br /> <br /> 3. Another think that caught my attention was advertising for the introduction of DublinBikes<br /> <br /> The dublinbikes scheme officially launched on 13 September 2009, meaning those posters I saw in early August were part of the major pre-launch publicity blitz.<br /> <br /> Late July 2009: Dublin City Council and JCDecaux flooded the media with press releases outlining how the scheme would work. Because it was funded via a controversial deal giving JCDecaux 72 prominent advertising panels across the city in exchange for the bike infrastructure, they pushed the marketing campaign heavily in advance.<br /> <br /> 10 August 2009: Long-term public membership registration officially opened. The big posters I noticed were almost certainly advertising this exact registration drive, encouraging Dubliners to sign up for their subscriber cards ahead of the bikes hitting the streets.<br /> <br /> The Infrastructure: If you were looking closely around the city centre that same week, you would have seen the first 40 stations and 450 heavy silver-and-blue bike stands physically being bolted into the ground (installation had started that June).</p> infomatique 2009dublininfrastructure dublindocklands dublinstreetphotography dublinurbanregeneration infomatique luasredlineextension luasthepointextension northwallquayhistory photonique riverliffeybridges samuelbeckettbridgeconstruction santiagocalatravadublin sigmadp1camera theurbancartographer williammurphy https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.en https://www.flickr.com/photos/infomatique/55324320637/ <p><a href="https://www.flickr.com/people/infomatique/">infomatique</a> posted a photo:</p> <p><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/infomatique/55324320637/" title="AUGUST 2009 DUBLIN DOCKLANDS WAS DEPRESSING [MUCH ACTIVITY HAD STALLED BUT MUCH WAS ALSO HAPPENING]-268737"><img src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/55324320637_6a94b2517a_m.jpg" width="240" height="160" alt="AUGUST 2009 DUBLIN DOCKLANDS WAS DEPRESSING [MUCH ACTIVITY HAD STALLED BUT MUCH WAS ALSO HAPPENING]-268737" /></a></p> <p>When I visited the Docklands area of the city in early August 2009, the atmosphere was quite bleak, and broader economic activity appeared to be stalled in the wake of the financial crash.<br /> <br /> There were, however, two major infrastructure projects rapidly reshaping the landscape. While a camera metadata error originally misdated my photographs from this session to February, the visual evidence confirms they were captured in August—a fleeting moment just four months before the entire quarter was transformed.<br /> <br /> Here is how the timelines and statuses broke down for both pieces of infrastructure during that August visit:<br /> <br /> 1. The Luas Red Line Extension (C1 to The Point)<br /> <br /> Operational Date: Tuesday, 8 December 2009<br /> Status in August 2009: On schedule and nearing completion.<br /> The Details: Ground was broken on the 1.5 km extension from Busáras to The Point in 2007 with a projected two-year construction timeline. By August 2009, track-laying and utility diversions along Mayor Square and North Wall Quay were entering their final stages, with the streetscape heavily disrupted as workers raced toward the finish line. The project ultimately hit its target, opening comfortably within its late-2009 schedule and budget.<br /> <br /> 2. The Samuel Beckett Bridge<br /> <br /> Operational Date: 10 December 2009 (opened to pedestrians; vehicles the following morning).<br /> Status in August 2009: Structurally spanning the river but surrounded by intensive civil works.<br /> <br /> The Details: If you examine my photographs from this session, the bridge is already spanning the Liffey. The structural steel fabric of Santiago Calatrava’s harp-inspired design was fabricated by Hollandia in Rotterdam and arrived in Dublin Port via barge in May 2009. Just weeks before my visit, on 21 July, the massive structure was successfully rotated across the river and keyed into its concrete pier.<br /> <br /> By August, the bridge structure was intact, but the surrounding quays were a chaotic staging ground filled with pallets of granite paving, kerbing, and construction materials needed to complete the approach roads. While the bridge's broader timeline had slipped over the years due to prolonged planning and funding shifts during the transition from the boom era, it was finally entering the home stretch.<br /> <br /> Both elements fundamentally altered that stretch of the North Wall and Sir John Rogerson's Quays just four months after this photographic survey.<br /> <br /> 3. Another think that caught my attention was advertising for the introduction of DublinBikes<br /> <br /> The dublinbikes scheme officially launched on 13 September 2009, meaning those posters I saw in early August were part of the major pre-launch publicity blitz.<br /> <br /> Late July 2009: Dublin City Council and JCDecaux flooded the media with press releases outlining how the scheme would work. Because it was funded via a controversial deal giving JCDecaux 72 prominent advertising panels across the city in exchange for the bike infrastructure, they pushed the marketing campaign heavily in advance.<br /> <br /> 10 August 2009: Long-term public membership registration officially opened. The big posters I noticed were almost certainly advertising this exact registration drive, encouraging Dubliners to sign up for their subscriber cards ahead of the bikes hitting the streets.<br /> <br /> The Infrastructure: If you were looking closely around the city centre that same week, you would have seen the first 40 stations and 450 heavy silver-and-blue bike stands physically being bolted into the ground (installation had started that June).</p> Tue, 09 Jun 2026 14:17:53 -0700 2009-08-03T13:12:35-08:00 nobody@flickr.com (infomatique) tag:flickr.com,2004:/photo/55324320637 AUGUST 2009 DUBLIN DOCKLANDS WAS DEPRESSING [MUCH ACTIVITY HAD STALLED BUT MUCH WAS ALSO HAPPENING]-268737 <p>When I visited the Docklands area of the city in early August 2009, the atmosphere was quite bleak, and broader economic activity appeared to be stalled in the wake of the financial crash.<br /> <br /> There were, however, two major infrastructure projects rapidly reshaping the landscape. While a camera metadata error originally misdated my photographs from this session to February, the visual evidence confirms they were captured in August—a fleeting moment just four months before the entire quarter was transformed.<br /> <br /> Here is how the timelines and statuses broke down for both pieces of infrastructure during that August visit:<br /> <br /> 1. The Luas Red Line Extension (C1 to The Point)<br /> <br /> Operational Date: Tuesday, 8 December 2009<br /> Status in August 2009: On schedule and nearing completion.<br /> The Details: Ground was broken on the 1.5 km extension from Busáras to The Point in 2007 with a projected two-year construction timeline. By August 2009, track-laying and utility diversions along Mayor Square and North Wall Quay were entering their final stages, with the streetscape heavily disrupted as workers raced toward the finish line. The project ultimately hit its target, opening comfortably within its late-2009 schedule and budget.<br /> <br /> 2. The Samuel Beckett Bridge<br /> <br /> Operational Date: 10 December 2009 (opened to pedestrians; vehicles the following morning).<br /> Status in August 2009: Structurally spanning the river but surrounded by intensive civil works.<br /> <br /> The Details: If you examine my photographs from this session, the bridge is already spanning the Liffey. The structural steel fabric of Santiago Calatrava’s harp-inspired design was fabricated by Hollandia in Rotterdam and arrived in Dublin Port via barge in May 2009. Just weeks before my visit, on 21 July, the massive structure was successfully rotated across the river and keyed into its concrete pier.<br /> <br /> By August, the bridge structure was intact, but the surrounding quays were a chaotic staging ground filled with pallets of granite paving, kerbing, and construction materials needed to complete the approach roads. While the bridge's broader timeline had slipped over the years due to prolonged planning and funding shifts during the transition from the boom era, it was finally entering the home stretch.<br /> <br /> Both elements fundamentally altered that stretch of the North Wall and Sir John Rogerson's Quays just four months after this photographic survey.<br /> <br /> 3. Another think that caught my attention was advertising for the introduction of DublinBikes<br /> <br /> The dublinbikes scheme officially launched on 13 September 2009, meaning those posters I saw in early August were part of the major pre-launch publicity blitz.<br /> <br /> Late July 2009: Dublin City Council and JCDecaux flooded the media with press releases outlining how the scheme would work. Because it was funded via a controversial deal giving JCDecaux 72 prominent advertising panels across the city in exchange for the bike infrastructure, they pushed the marketing campaign heavily in advance.<br /> <br /> 10 August 2009: Long-term public membership registration officially opened. The big posters I noticed were almost certainly advertising this exact registration drive, encouraging Dubliners to sign up for their subscriber cards ahead of the bikes hitting the streets.<br /> <br /> The Infrastructure: If you were looking closely around the city centre that same week, you would have seen the first 40 stations and 450 heavy silver-and-blue bike stands physically being bolted into the ground (installation had started that June).</p> infomatique 2009dublininfrastructure dublindocklands dublinstreetphotography dublinurbanregeneration infomatique luasredlineextension luasthepointextension northwallquayhistory photonique riverliffeybridges samuelbeckettbridgeconstruction santiagocalatravadublin sigmadp1camera theurbancartographer williammurphy https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.en