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Unread 17-12-2006, 15:48   #26
Mark Gleeson
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Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: Coach C, Seat 33
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The original bridge in Blackrock had a hump in the middle and it wasn't even wide enough for two people to pass on comfortably so it wasn't suitable for wheelchairs or for a lift shaft addition as was done at Glenageary and Shankill which both had wide flat deck style bridges. It was common to see a queue onto the bridge in Blackrock something which has been eliminated by the new double stairs

The bridge in Blackrock was also sub standard in height compared to modern electrical standards, raising it was not an option since that would require demolition of part of the station (which is a grade 1 listed building and one of the oldest station buildings in Ireland) to fit in the staircase. The chosen design is about as compact as can be

There is are a heap of rules buried in the accessibility rules section M building regs 2000 which explain why there are so many landings on the stair cases why the steps are as they are. 25% of all rail users have a mobility impairment of some kind ranging from wheelchair users to people carrying heavy bags so the design of any new bridge must cover all

Killiney and Seapoint (3) all had steel or possible iron footbridges still in place until last year, Seapoint retains two they date from 1880 if not earlier, design life is taken as 100 years so they will last so the fact the replacement bridges are steel is not a issue, most of the decay on the remaining footbridges is attributed to poor standards when they where raised in the early 1980's as part of the DART project. IE had to abandon a like for like replacement in Seapoint in 2002 ish since a replacement bridge would not meet required planning standards
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