Design and Engineering

James Joyce bridge is a single span structural steel design, 40m (131 ft) long, with the deck supported from two outward angled arches, one each side of and above the deck. It is supported on piles in the river and adjacent to the quay walls. The deck provides double two-lane vehicular movement in each direction, and a pedestrian walkway is cantilevered from the deck on the outside of angled stringer supports between the deck and arches. This physical barrier between the pedestrians and traffic and the wide walkway (varies from 3 to 6m) are designed to attract people onto the bridge to view the city landscape and the River Liffey. The deck width between railings is 30m (98.5 ft).

World renowned architect, Santiago Calatrava, was appointed as architect/engineer for the bridge in 1998. The contract was commenced in April 2001 for a tender sum of IR£4.4m (€5.6m). Irishenco Construction Ltd were the main contractor and Harland & Wolff of Belfast the steel fabricator. The superstructure was fabricated in Belfast and assembled by welding on a temporary deck in the river.

Considerable delays were incurred as a result of extended piling due to a buried river and welding complexities with the steel fabrication. As a result, the actual construction time was 26 month with the bridge opening on 16th June 2003.