URBAN PHOTOGRAPHS

Urban Expression And Depression By Infomatique

Bridge

THE LIVING BRIDGE I USED A VOIGTLANDER 40mm LENS

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THE LIVING BRIDGE I USED A VOIGTLANDER 40mm LENS

This visit to Limerick I limited myself to using primes and I am not sure if it was a good idea and I may not limit myself in this way when I visit Belfast at the end of the month. Also, much to me surprise, there was a lot of dust on the sensor which was more than annoying. Much to my surprise as I had my camera professionally cleaned a few days earlier.

The Living Bridge – An Droichead Beo is a unique design by Wilkinson Eyre Architects, London and consists of seven 50-metre spans linked together by piers which create four platforms of refuge for walkers.

The platforms are designed to accommodate social gatherings, informal teaching sessions, music and dance performances, as well as a wide array of educational, social and cultural activities – all contributing to this facility’s status as a “living” bridge”.

The bridge alternates between rhythms of bridge and island, with lightweight bridge structures joining to more solid pier locations. This is reflected by the change in construction materials from steel to concrete and the transition from open parapets to solid pillars and glazed side walls which serve to shelter the “inhabitants” of this animated facility.

The architects designed the bridge to move in a beautiful flowing line across the Shannon, mirroring the river. The design conveys the sense of a series of bridges leaping from pier to pier, each supported by one of the existing islands in the riverbed. This gives the traveller the sense that they are crossing the river on stepping stones.

From the south campus, access to the bridge is through what presents itself as a hidden gateway in the Millstream Courtyard and provides a vital link between the Glucksman Library, Concert Hall and Millstream developments to the Health Sciences and the new Irish World Academy of Music and Dance on the north bank. An impressive Plaza will welcome you to Clare once you have travelled over the bridge.

The Pedestrian Living Bridge project was resourced through a partnership of private and public funding and was assigned to Arup Consulting Engineers in Dublin. Kerin Contract Management in Limerick managed the project while building work was undertaken by Eiffel Construction, France’s largest bridge builder.

NAMED AFTER MARY ELMES – CORK’S NEW PEDESTRIAN BRIDGE

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NAMED AFTER MARY ELMES – CORK’S NEW PEDESTRIAN BRIDGE

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Marie Elisabeth Jean Elmes (5 May 1908 – 9 March 2002) was an Irish aid worker credited with saving the lives of at least 200 Jewish children at various times during the Holocaust, by hiding them in the boot of her car.

In 2015, she became the first and only Irish person honoured as Righteous Among the Nations by the State of Israel, in recognition of her work in the Spanish Civil War and World War II.

Elmes was born on 5 May 1908 in Cork, Ireland to chemist Edward Elmes and Elizabeth (née Waters). Edward Elmes was originally from Waterford, and moved to Cork after qualifying as a pharmacist, to run a pharmacy on Winthrop Street, while Waters grew up in Cork. She had one brother, John, who later took over the family business.

Elmes attended Rochelle School in Cork and then in 1928 enrolled at Trinity College Dublin where she was elected a Scholar, and gained a first in Modern Literature (French and Spanish). In 1935, as a result of her academic achievements, Elmes was awarded a scholarship in International Studies to study at London School of Economics. She received a certificate in International Studies as well as a further scholarship to continue her education in Geneva, Switzerland.

In February 1937, after the completion of her studies, Elmes joined the University of London Ambulance Unit and was sent to a children’s hospital in Almeria in then war-torn Spain.

In 1942, the Vichy authorities made it clear that Jewish children were not legally allowed to be exempt from being sent to the concentration camps, as they had been. Elmes, with help from some colleagues, rescued dozens of children, taking them to safe houses or helping them flee the country altogether. Well aware that she was putting herself at risk, Elmes hid many children in the boot of her car and drove them to safe destinations. She aided many others by securing documents, which allowed for them to escape through the undercover network in Vichy France. She was not a Quaker herself, despite sometimes being described as the “head of the Quaker delegation at Perpignan,” but worked actively with local Quaker organisations.

In January (or February) 1943, Elmes was arrested on suspicion of aiding the escape of Jews and was imprisoned in Toulouse, later being moved to the notorious Fresnes Prison run by the Gestapo near Paris, where she spent six months.

Elmes married and had two children, and lived on after the war in Pyrénées-Orientales (Northern Catalonia) where she had been active, first in Perpignan and then in Canet-en-Roussillon and Sainte-Marie-la-Mer. She died in a nursing home there.

After the war Elmes was awarded the Legion of Honour (French:Légion d’honneur), the highest civilian award in France at the time, which she refused to accept on the grounds of unwanted attention for what she did. On 23 January 2013, 11 years after her death, having been nominated by one of the children she rescued, she was posthumously recognised by Yad Vashem as Righteous Among the Nations, her children and grandchildren receiving the award on her behalf, and on 30 September 2016, she was posthumously awarded the Trish Murphy Award at the Network Ireland Business Woman of the Year awards in Cork, which was accepted by her nephew, Mark Elmes, on behalf of her family. On 25 February 2019 it was announced by Cork City Council that a new pedestrian bridge linking Patrick’s Quay to Merchant’s Quay would be named after Mary Elmes. It was opened to the public on 9 July 2019.

The Mary Elmes Prize in Holocaust Studies distributed by the Holocaust Educational Trust Ireland is named after Elmes.

GASWORKS LATTICE BRIDGE IN WATERFORD – RECENTLY RESTORED

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GASWORKS LATTICE BRIDGE IN WATERFORD – RECENTLY RESTORED

When I first photographed this bridge a few years ago I was under the impression that it was a new structure but it dates from from the late 1870s.

In early 2013, the Waterford Civic Trust became concerned that the Lattice Bridge connecting the Waterside and the Gasworks site would be removed and scrapped like the other connecting bridge. With the help of Waterford City Council a plan was devised and acted upon, whereby the bridge was safely removed for restoration. Work has been done to the bridge to bring it up to modern health and safety standards and to ensure it’s use in Waterford’s life.

UCC WILDFLOWER MEADOW AND THE NEW CAVANAGH PEDESTRIAN BRIDGE

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UCC WILDFLOWER MEADOW AND THE NEW CAVANAGH PEDESTRIAN BRIDGE

The bridge was opened in 2020 and as I last visited Cork in May 2019 this was my first opportunity to photograph but the strange thing is that I had believed that I had already photographed it on a previous visit.

University College Cork has named its new pedestrian bridge after philanthropist Dr Tom Cavanagh — the second campus structure to bear his surname.

The Cavanagh pedestrian bridge and riverside walk acts as a crucial link in the chain of connection between the campus core and the Western Road. It makes the unique green space on the northern side of the river available for use by the students, staff and members of the public, and consolidates the parkland character of the landscape amenity of the riverside grounds of the College.

DALY’S BRIDGE HAS BEEN RESTORED – THE SHAKEY BRIDGE

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DALY’S BRIDGE HAS BEEN RESTORED – THE SHAKEY BRIDGE

This is a favourite of mine but I also like St Vincent’s Bridge which I did not get a chance to photograph this visit to Cork. Even though I spent a week in the city I ran out of time but I hope to visit again in May 2022.

Daly’s Bridge is a pedestrian bridge spanning the River Lee in Cork, Ireland. Known locally as the Shakey Bridge, it joins Sunday’s Well on the north side, to Fitzgerald’s Park in the Mardyke area on the south.

Completed in 1926 and opened in 1927, it is the only suspension bridge in Cork City. It was constructed by the London-based David Rowell & Company to the design of Stephen W. Farrington, the Cork City Engineer. Constructed primarily of wrought iron, the bridge spans 160 feet (49 m), and the timber-planked walkway is 4+1⁄2 feet (1.4 m) wide.

The bridge takes its official name from Cork businessman James Daly, who contributed to the cost of the bridge. Its colloquial name (the “Shakey Bridge” or “Shaky Bridge”) derives from the movement of the platform when running or jumping on the bridge.

In August 2019, work began on restoration of the bridge. It was dismantled into four sections and removed so that repair of the bridge structure could be carried out. In July 2020, it was reported that while the structure of the bridge had been reinstalled, “several weeks of work” were required before it would reopen. It was reopened to the public in December 2020.

The bridge is listed on Cork City Council’s Record of Protected Structures.

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