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River Dargle Flood Defence Scheme.
These images were taken during the 3rd week of December 2016.
Previously I'd described the problems with large volumes of construction traffic and the volumes of hard material being trucked out of the Slang/Rehills section of the river bank.
For now, the trucks have vanished. There is now very little activity in the Slang/Rehills sector.
As a last final hurrah towards the problem, we spotted this gentleman hosing the accumulated debris off the path running along the Upper Dargle Road.
Finally . . . a proper, effective method of cleaning.
While all the heavy traffic was involved in trucking out the material, I'd suggested that a more effective method would have been to set up a sunken, drained pit just inside the entrance gate, have 2 guys there with high-pressure hoses, and rapidly hose down the trucks as they were about to leave the compound.
WTF do we, Joe Public, know?
River Dargle Flood Defence Scheme.
These images were taken at the start of the 3rd week of December 2016.
First it started with a crew using strimmers to clear away the undergrowth close to the main entrance.
Then we watched a holes were dug, posts sunk and a protective screen fence appeared.
Sited close to the bank edge, it's purpose was initially confusing.
Unless Joe Public was to be allowed entrance back onto this strip of bank (as was the status as far back as 2012 when this work started), then why the duplication?
The other wall has been sealed with a continuous solid-bar fence.
"Yes Sir, it looks pretty.
But does it serve a useful purpose?
Oh, I hear you say -- Health and Safety!"
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River Dargle Flood Defence Scheme.
These images were taken during the 3rd week of December, 2016.
On occasional check on works on-going close to the centre of Bray itself, in and around the Bridge.
This is a section of the flood protection scheme that I haven't covered in any great detail. Inconvenient for me to access, and others cover it much better.
Check out 'Turgidson'.
Looking upriver, towards the People's Park, standing on the 'Fran O'Toole Bridge' with the new boardwalk under construction.
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Bray gets a riverside boardwalk as part of the final element of the River Dargle Flood Defence Scheme.
The boardwalk - similar to the one along the River Liffey in Dublin city centre - will be incorporated into the wall beside the Fran O Toole Bridge.
It will connect Castle Street to the Peoples Park and will be a welcome added amenity for Bray.
The boardwalk forms part of the final large works package for the River Dargle Flood Defence Scheme.
This part of the scheme runs from the People's Park to the Railway Bridge on the Little Bray side of the river.
The works consist of curved sheet piled walls approaching the railway bridge which will be faced with masonry and the construction of footpaths in this area.
There will also be a stone faced sheet pile wall along the Lower Dargle Road from beside the Fran O'Toole Bridge to the Peoples Park.
The work is very timely as part of the existing inner wall alongside the Lower Dargle Road was severely undermined and collapsed during a storm which occurred just before Christmas.
When the project is completed, Bray will be protected from a one-in-one-hundred year storm, including all the floods of the sort that would have ravaged the town in the 20th century, and a one-in-200 year tidal event.
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These images shows the skeleton of the structure 'hanging' from the upgraded stone-clad wall, adjacent to Upper Dargle Road.
This part of the scheme runs from the People's Park to the Railway Bridge on the Little Bray side of the river.
On this particular day, the high water mark is actually caused by the high sea tide, pushing upriver from the Bray harbour estuary. This is not the result of waters running down-river from the nearby mountains. Hence the calm still appearance.
U.C.I. G. Vettori, Bologna, No. 181. Vidali played the female lead of Lucia in Mario Bonnard's adaptation of Alessandro Manzoni's I promessi sposi (1922), opposite Domenico Serra as Renzo and Mario Parpagnoli as don Rodrigo.
The two betrothed are Renzo Tramaglino and Lucia Mondella. Their love story is jeopardised by Don Rodrigo, the lord of the domain, who is infatuated with Lucia. His 'bravi' menace the local priest Don Abbondio to refuse Renzo and Luciana to marry, with some legal excuse. On behalf of the couple, the monk Father Cristoforo visits Don Rodrigo to mediate in the affair but is brutally kicked out. When Rodrigo plots to assault the young couple, they flee over Lake Como. Lucia hides in a convent where, however, the scheming nun of Monza plots with Don Rodrigo. Renzo searches for Lucia and while in Milan visits the fraudulent lawyer doctor Azzeccagarbugli to get his papers right. The police try to arrest him but he manages to flee again. Meanwhile Father Cristoforo is banned from the convent and the village on instigation of don Rodrigo. A robber baron called l'Innominato or 'the unnamed' is sent by Don Rodrigo to abduct the girl and give her once and for all to Don Rodrigo. Yet, in a startling change of heart, inspired by a visit of Cardinal Federigo Borromeo, the Innominato undergoes a religious conversion and does the right thing by liberating Lucia. This starts the downfall of the culprits. The Great Plague of Milan (1630) breaks out, imported by German mercenaries during the Thirty Years War. In Milan Renzo meets again Don Cristoforo who helps the dying masses and discovers Don Rodrigo is one of the victims. Renzo forgives him, Rodrigo dies, the Plague stops. Father Cristoforo frees Lucia also from her vow of chastity she had made in the hope of being relinquished from the clutches of the Innominato. Renzo and Lucia return to their village, where they can finally marry, blessed by don Abbondio, who has bettered his life.
Alessandro Manzoni's novel I promessi sposi (The Bethrothed) was many times adapted for film in Italy, first in 1908 by the company Comerio, then in 1911 by Film d'Arte Italiana, and well two versions in 1913 by Eleuterio Rodolfi and by Eugenio Perego - for Rodolfi's version, filmed for Ambrosio, see our blogpost filmstarpostcards.blogspot.nl/2013/10/i-promessi-sposi-19.... Also a sound version was made in 1941 by Mario Camerini, see our blogpost filmstarpostcards.blogspot.nl/2016/08/i-promessi-sposi-19.... In 1922 former actor turned director Mario Bonnard - he had been Lyda Borelli's male partner in her filmic debut Ma l'amor mio non muore/ Love Everlasting, 1913 - shot his version of I promessi sposi. The film was censured in November 1922 but only had its first night in Rome more than a year after, on 27 December 1923, so just after Christmas. In 1934 a sound version of the 1922 was released.
Bonnard's film was produced by his own company Bonnard Film but distributed by the trust UCI (Unione Cinematografica Italiana). Sets were by the renowned Italian painter Camillo Innocenti, who had specialised in set design for historical films. Cinematography was by Giuseppe-Paolo Vitrotti, the younger brother of the better known Italian cinematographer Giovanni Vitrotti. He already worked for Ambrosio since 1908 as camera operator, but became director of cinematography around the time of I promessi sposi.
While Italian film critics complained about the lack of fidelity to the concept and the historical details in the novel, they also had to admit that the cinema audiences loved it, and took the deviations and historically incorrect details for granted. La vita cinematografica wrote that the cinema audience wanted to be emotionally involved by dramatic and comic scenes, grand spectacle, and the richness of details, and got it all.
Source: Vittorio Martinelli, Il cinema muto italiano, 1921-1922.
In collaboration with Fondazione Csc – Cineteca Nazionale di Roma, Svenska Filminstitutet of Stockholm and Museo Nazionale del Cinema di Torino, the Milanese Cineteca Italiana digitally restored the film in 2004, on basis of an original negative, and released it on DVD.
Emilia Vidali was an actress in Italian silent cinema. She was also an extremely popular opera singer in South America, and performed in international opera houses all over the world. See also www.flickr.com/photos/10655856@N04/6731599219/in/photolis... and filmstarpostcards.blogspot.nl/2012/02/emilia-vidali.html
This southbound stack train has a somewhat interesting collection of power.
-UP SD70ACe #8812, BNSF SD70ACe #8549, C44-9W #5062 leading power
-UP Southbound Stack Train
-UP (ex-SP/CM&W/ICG/CR/NYC/GM&O/etc) Springfield Sub, CP X276 WR Tower, Main 1
-19th Street Overpass, Granite City, IL
-August 26, 2018
TT1_1303_edited-1
UP 1982 (Missouri Pacific) and UP 1943 (Veterans) lead an intermodal into downtown STL. A big thanks to the hostler that managed to get these two together.
No idea who chose to decorate with bright yellow … but it’s got to be better than magnolia!
68016 at Kingmoor open day on 06 Jul 24
Two views towards South Parade Pier. The America's Cup was held in Portsmouth in 2015 and this walkway was crowded with people watching the event. This will be perfect if it ever comes back to Portsmouth.
Again going back to Waddington 2001, a GAF Tornado IDS in Tiger Scheme.At the time it belonged to Jbg 32
VIEW IN LIGHTBOX
Remodel, Week 18
As promised, on this November 20th (EDIT: 19th. This is what happens when you write the descriptions for "tomorrow" after midnight and the date on your computer has already changed but you still think it's on the same page as you...) we're catching up with some long-overdue Southaven Sam's Club remodel updates, beginning (coincidentally) with photos from my visit exactly one month ago today, back on October 20th! In this panoramic-style shot, we're taking a wide view of the club's exterior post-repaint as seen from the edge of its parking lot. Even though the repaint was pretty much done at the time this was taken, though, some things have still changed since this photo. One of them is the painting of the back section that was left with the old brown paint scheme a few weeks longer than the rest of the store for some unknown reason. The others, I'm saving to discuss in later descriptions...
Sam's Club // 465 Goodman Road E, Southaven, MS 38671
(c) 2017 Retail Retell
These places are public so these photos are too, but just as I tell where they came from, I'd appreciate if you'd say who :)
Recently I've finally tried famous Fuji X100 and I was quite impressed with its capabilities to overpower sun with just one small flash. See next photo for full disambiguation.
I was inspired by this piece of dollhouse furniture..... I think it will make a nice color scheme for the interior of new 1/6 mini mansion project.
the color scheme I'd choose, sure. I had room for a glovebox but heard on The Grand Tour that the real model doesn't have one! so yeah, whatever then.
River Dargle Flood Defence Scheme.
These images were taken during the fourth week of September, 2016.
On a rare trip down to the Harbour area, just to check out progress here. Throughout the summer, this is where the heavy-duty engineering works have been taking place.
This is a section of the flood protection scheme that I have pretty much ignored -- it's inconvenient for me to access, and others cover it much better.
Check out 'Turgidson'.
Standing on an access bridge, adjacent to the Bray Boxing Club (from whence sprang Katie Taylor, and others of illustrious note), looking back up the river, towards the town direction.
In the foreground is the Railway bridge, and in the distance we can see some construction works taking place on the Ravenswell Road, temporarily closed due to on-going works.
That is the site of the old Bray Golf Club -- hotly contested as a (potentially) poorly considered site for a shopping centre development complex, and still an area of ground that has to act as a flood plain in the event of tidal surges.
The Irish Rail Bridge, Bray Harbour:
Phase 1 flood defence works to the Irish Rail bridge commenced in August 2016.
Phase 2 flood defence works will be completed during May to September 2017. This work is being undertaken directly by Irish Rail.
The work includes strengthening the integrity of the bridge by creating buttresses around the base of each pillar.
To do this they have to pile-drive sheets into the river bedrock.
The work is complicated by;
(a) the need not to damage or disturb in any way the actual bridge itself (Irish Rail train and DART carriages pass overhead on an hourly basis), (b) the confined spaces under the bridge, and (c) the twice-daily rising tides from Bray Harbour which spill upriver into the newly expanded basin.
To create proper foundations for the columns, the guys will have to drive steel piles deep into the bed of the river. Similar to work done elsewhere. Within that waterproof chamber, they'll set/pour concrete to build the columns.
The (future) pile driving work involves a sub-contractor using an excavator-mounted vibratory pile driver – possibly a ‘Movax’ model. That’s the combination they used in 2014 with the work opposite La Vallee.
Right now, they're in the preliminary stages of building work platforms around the stone buttresses of the Irish Rail bridge.
River Dargle Flood Defence Scheme.
These images were taken during the second week of August, 2016.
Constant traffic nowadays with hard material being trucked in and dumped in storage areas along The Slang/Rehills section of the river bank.
Further work is now being undertaken to upgrade the protection of the riverbank edge with the laying down of extra stone material.
==================
The River Dargle is a valuable salmon and sea-trout fishery.
Wicklow County Council, in planning the Dargle flood relief scheme have taken cognisance of this fact and have worked closely with Inland Fisheries Ireland, from the planning phase of this project, to ensure that the flood relief programme will not have negative consequences for this valuable fishery.
Essentially this involves the incorporation of a ‘fish friendly’ channel within the flood relief profiles to ensure that the natural channel form is maintained at low water levels.
River Dargle Flood Defence Scheme.
These images were taken during the 3rd week of December, 2016.
These images show the (completed) work on the soil stabilisation project, opposite the Riversdale apartment complex, where critical work was necessary to protect and preserve a steep section of the slope.
Some 4 years ago the steep part of the bank had been stripped away and a lot of work invested in 'soil stitching', intended to stabilise the integrity of such a steep, but 'exposed' bank. The soil on the hill behind had been prone to slippage, aggravated by shallow rooting trees etc.
It would seem that yet another strip will have to be similarly treated to 'preserve' it's integrity.
Check out the images here, taken in August 2012:
The Maniscopic forklift carried a platform upon which the contractors mounted a drilling rig - used to bore drills into the steeply sloped bank, which are then injected with a liquid cement solution and finished out with fastening rods.
The guys then laid rolls of heavy-duty mesh in long verticals. The mesh is caught around the sunken rods, and secured with an anchor cap to keep in place.
Not sure whether these are bio, or non-bio degradable mesh rolls. But they do look more like synthetic rather than geofabric material.
The little Bedford 4x4 is favoured to transport materials, and men, to and fro along the Slang/Rehills section of the riverbank.
At this time of year, and with the conditions prevailing, they park the vehicle close to where the top of the banks narrow, and proceed on foot. Only tracked or forklift machinery proceeds the full length to the work area.
As we saw, it's slow, messy, mucky and remorseless work.
Not without an element of danger.
And, just as suddenly, they were gone.
The temporary working 'shelf' stripped away, and the river returned to it's normal width.
But, something doesn't seem right/complete.
Some of the synthetic strips seem to be simply attached, with considerable 'space' behind, and no evidence of any kind of hydro-seeding etc.
That slope does not, to my untrained eye, look like something designed to withstand 10 years of 'climate warming' excesses.
When does the first tree come tumbling down?
Our old family friend Jean Young, kindly sent me these old photographs from the Groundnuts scheme in Tanganyika in the early 1950s. This is her description of this one:
Margery, Jean Young and Dogs, Kongwa, Tanganyika (Tanzania) 1950
*Collection Jean Young : All Rights Reserved
River Dargle Flood Defence Scheme.
These images were taken during the fourth week of September, 2016.
On a rare trip down to the Harbour area, just to check out progress here. Throughout the summer, this is where the heavy-duty engineering works have been taking place.
This is a section of the flood protection scheme that I have pretty much ignored -- it's inconvenient for me to access, and others cover it much better.
Check out 'Turgidson'.
Standing on an access bridge, adjacent to the Bray Boxing Club (from whence sprang Katie Taylor, and others of illustrious note), looking back up the river, towards the town direction.
In the foreground is the Railway bridge, and in the distance we can see some construction works taking place on the Ravenswell Road, temporarily closed due to on-going works.
That is the site of the old Bray Golf Club -- hotly contested as a (potentially) poorly considered site for a shopping centre development complex, and still an area of ground that has to act as a flood plain in the event of tidal surges.
The Irish Rail Bridge, Bray Harbour:
Phase 1 flood defence works to the Irish Rail bridge commenced in August 2016.
Phase 2 flood defence works will be completed during May to September 2017. This work is being undertaken directly by Irish Rail.
The work includes strengthening the integrity of the bridge by creating buttresses around the base of each pillar.
To do this they have to pile-drive sheets into the river bedrock.
The work is complicated by;
(a) the need not to damage or disturb in any way the actual bridge itself (Irish Rail train and DART carriages pass overhead on an hourly basis), (b) the confined spaces under the bridge, and (c) the twice-daily rising tides from Bray Harbour which spill upriver into the newly expanded basin.
To create proper foundations for the columns, the guys will have to drive steel piles deep into the bed of the river. Similar to work done elsewhere. Within that waterproof chamber, they'll set/pour concrete to build the columns.
The (future) pile driving work involves a sub-contractor using an excavator-mounted vibratory pile driver – possibly a ‘Movax’ model. That’s the combination they used in 2014 with the work opposite La Vallee.
Right now, they're in the preliminary stages of building work platforms around the stone buttresses of the Irish Rail bridge.
River Dargle Flood Defence Scheme.
These images were taken during the fourth week of August, 2016.
On one of my infrequent trips down to the Harbour area, just to check out progress here. Throughout the summer, this is where the heavy-duty engineering works have been taking place.
This is a section of the flood protection scheme that I have pretty much ignored -- it's inconvenient for me to access, and others cover it much better.
Check out 'Turgidson'.
Standing on the new riverside walkway alongside Seapoint Court, we see construction activity sited along the Ravenswell Road, temporarily closed due to on-going works.
That is the site of the old Bray Golf Club -- hotly contested as a (potentially) poorly considered site for a shopping centre development complex, and still an area of ground that has to act as a flood plain in the event of tidal surges.
As well as raising a heightened flood protection wall, they've created an access ramp down to the riverside. Further temporary soil shelves have been laid to allow construction machines to work alongside the riverbed. That access is critical to pursue work on the nearby Irish Rail bridge.
The area in the background, site of the old Bray Golf course, is both a works compound and vehicle route for the transportation of material to/from the other sectors along the River Dargle innvolved in construction works.
The Irish Rail Bridge, Bray Harbour:
Phase 1 flood defence works to the Irish Rail bridge commenced in August 2016.
Phase 2 flood defence works will be completed during May to September 2017. This work is being undertaken directly by Irish Rail.
The work will include strengthening the integrity of the bridge by creating buttresses around the base of each pillar.
To do this they have to pile-drive sheets into the river bedrock.
The work is complicated by;
(a) the need not to damage or disturb in any way the actual bridge itself (Irish Rail train and DART carriages pass overhead on an hourly basis), (b) the confined spaces under the bridge, and (c) the twice-daily rising tides from Bray Harbour which spill upriver into the newly expanded basin.
Here is an upload inspired by a beautiful set from Kiki FL's photostream.
Brookfield Zoo
Perching Bird House - Parrot
La Belle Dame sans merci - initial sketch. It's already sewn (I had to make it simpler, because some of the elements were too small) - I'll upload photo today.
Now - some hand stitches to make it relating to the theme:)
River Dargle Flood Defence Scheme.
These images were taken during the third week of November 2016.
These are the critical stabilisation works at the Silverbridge site, adjacent to the N11 dual-carriageway:
Back in November 2014, we observed bank stabilisation works here involving excavation, repair and building of a support wall structure -- carried out by JONS Construction on behalf of the National Roads Authority.
We would occasionally catch sight of this work in the distance. Quite an impressive little piece of structural engineering.
Having built a retaining concave wall, backfilled for solidity, they were also drilling, fixing and sealing ground anchors to pin the entire structure together.
Now we see that further works are being undertaken.
Word has it that extra ‘stabilisation work’ has to be done to protect the integrity of the riverbank. At the section here we can see that there’s not much space between the edge of the rock face and the Armco at the side of the dual-carriageway.
Have yet to determine what precisely that will entail. Serious work to reinforce the side access ramp down to the river.
The N11 carriageway runs adjacent to this sunken side of the riverbank -- barely 2 (large) paces divide the two. Even with twin strips of Armco along the roadside, it's perilously close. Traffic speeds along this stretch (maximum speed 100 kmp). Only needs a touch from a heavy vehicle to cause secondary impact, which (worst possible scenario) could result in something going airborne.
Working in these confined spaces puts a premium of safety and communication.
The guys have hard-filled a working shelf on the riverbed, to allow machinery access to the rockface. Obviously some serious drilling is called for before a form of extra 'pinning' is put in place.
They have sunk a series of hollowed tubes/casings -- obviously to form the foundations of a more extensive structure.
And some investigative work around the transverse buttress of the access bridge, parallel to the heavy-duty pipeline carrying water down from the Vartry reservoir.
This was the day when they started to fill those sunken tubes/casings with liquid cement. At a (rough) guess -- I'd say the foundations are sunk to a depth of approx 4+m.
With such secure foundations in place, they would then look to construct a substantial bank of material, and/or retaining wall (similar to that in place further along the roadside bank).
As ever, the first attempt at a process brings it's own unique set of issues.
The tight confines of the riverbed obliges the use of a concrete pumping rig with long-boom capacity.
Would you call this a '4 section' unit'? Built on a 4-axle chassis, I'd suggest that it's reach is approx 40+m.
The remotely-controlled unit siphons and pumps liquid concrete into the sunken wells. Immediately the guys agitate the mixture to remove any air pockets. Final step is to lower in a pre-formed steel skeleton brace, intended to reinforce the foundation.
While we were there, the guys struggled to sink the steel frame into the sunken sleeve. I can't believe it was a problem with alignment -- other similar frames dropped neatly into their appointed sleeve.
Perhaps simply a case that the compressed liquid solution was just inflexible enough to receive the steel skeleton. We left.
Will find out later what the outcome was.
River Dargle Flood Defence Scheme.
These images were taken during the lalst full week of November, 2016.
Adjacent to The People's Park, a large compound is the site of continuing work along this section of the river. Some of the works are nearing completion.
Work here along the riverbank, between Glenwood and The Maltings, involved stabilisation measures (digging out a channel, and dropping in large boulders) intended to reinforce this newly constructed/shaped length of bank. To facilitate an easier run for fish, a central channel has been delineated with larger boulders, and slightly raised shelf on each side.
Merchandise in Bar-skor (八廓街). See? the patterns are all different. Addict to the tinge and taken it home only in this way.
Lhasa. Tibet, China. Mar 07
Glass by Douglas Strachan, part of the full scheme of windows commissioned for the chapel in1921.
Westminster College stands to the north of Cambridge's centre and is primarily a theological college for the training of ministers in the United Reformed Church. The present buildings were designed by Henry Hare and built between 1897–1899.
The reason for my visit was the chapel which is hidden away behind the main frontage. This low vaulted space is remarkable for its glass, a complete scheme of windows by Scottish stained glass artist Douglas Strachan, a symphony of swirling forms and rich colours emanating from all of the thirteen windows. The apse and west windows are relatively small, but the windows on each side of the chapel are larger and more dramatic works.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Douglas_Strachan
This college is off the tourist trail and thus not so widely known or visited, but knowing of the glorious glass I enquired about seeing the chapel at reception and the nice lady there happily let me in and pointed me in the right direction which was very much appreciated, and the chapel's windows really are hidden gems.