River Liffey

SCOUT IS A SUPER YACHT NAMED AFTER THE OWNER’S DOG

May 26, 2023 by infomatique

MOORED AT SIR JOHN ROGERSON’S QUAY IN DUBLIN

James Berwind’s $85m yacht named Scout is currently moored on the River Liffey at Sir John Rogerson’s Quay.

Berwind Corporation (previously also known as Berwind-White Coal Mining Company) is a large privately held American corporation historically involved in the coal industry. Today it is a diversified company involved in property leasing and ownership of unrelated businesses.

It began as a partnership of Edward Julius Berwind, Charles Berwind, and Congressman Allison White and upon White’s death became known as Berwind White Company in 1886. The company was one of the largest producers of coal at the turn of the twentieth century and created several towns in West Virginia and Pennsylvania, including Windber, Pennsylvania and Berwind, West Virginia. It was a litigant in two U.S. Supreme Court decisions: Berwind-White Coal Mining Co. v. Chicago & Erie R. Co., 235 U.S. 371 (1914) and McGoldrick v. Berwind-White Coal Mining Co., 309 U.S. 33 (1940). In 1962 the family corporation moved from directly producing coal to leasing its properties and diversification into ownership of other businesses, including Protective Industries (including Caplugs and Mokon) and, CRC Industries. By 2007 the company’s investments in real estate alone totaled over $3 billion. Berwinds founded the Wilmore Steamship Company in 1930.

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THE CORTEN STEEL SIGN LOOKS LIKE A SHIP

April 30, 2023 by infomatique

DUBLIN PORT COMPANY

In some of my photographs you may notice a large pool of water at the side of the road. As I was photographing this sign a middle aged woman redirected her car to pass through the water in order to splash me and that is what happened … I had to return home to change as a result.

Weathering steel, often referred to by the genericised trademark COR-TEN steel and sometimes written without the hyphen as corten steel, is a group of steel alloys which were developed to eliminate the need for painting, and form a stable rust-like appearance after several years’ exposure to weather.

Dublin Port is the seaport of Dublin, Ireland, of both historical and contemporary economic importance. Approximatively two-thirds of Ireland’s port traffic travels via the port, which is by far the busiest on the island of Ireland.

The port is operated by the semi-state Dublin Port Company (DPC), incorporated on 28 February 1997 (formerly the Dublin Port and Docks Board, and successor to the Ballast Board founded in 1707), the headquarters of which are located just beyond the main port entrance on the northern side of the Liffey. In 2017 the area around the headquarters was rebuilt with the installation of a heritage crane and creation of a maritime-themed garden. The company is responsible for infrastructure of the port, with individual operations run by tenants such as State authorities, notably the customs service, ferry, freight and oil companies, terminal operators, and stevedores.

The port company is responsible for pilotage services within Dublin Bay, and manages the three port lighthouses (but not those of Howth or Kish Bank). It also formerly operated two drydocks, which were closed in 2016.

According to DPC, the port handled 23.5 million tonnes of cargo in 2003, as well as 1,426,000 passengers. That year 7,917 ships docked in the port, including 54 cruise liners carrying 54,000 visitors. In April 2010, the company announced its “busiest week ever”, following restrictions placed on European airspace because of the eruption of the Eyjafjallajökull volcano in Iceland. Some 72,118 passengers were reported to have travelled through the ferry terminals during the week of 15–21 April that year, and that week saw the culmination of increased trade in Dublin Port, as the company’s figures for the first quarter of 2010 would eventually reveal. March 2010 saw a 13.5% trade increase when compared with March 2009, and that month was declared by the company as the fourth consecutive month of trade increase[6] since the economic downturn. The figures of imports and exports declined during the depression of 2010 but then increased during the decade and in 2019, 38.1 million tonnes of cargo was handled and there were 7,898 ship movements of which 158 were cruise ships.

THE RIVER LIFFEY 15 APRIL 2023

April 15, 2023 by infomatique

I USED A OLD SONY NEX-7 CAMERA

A few days ago I discovered that I had a Sony E PZ 18-105mm F4 G OSS lens which I do not remember buying and what is even more confusing is that I do not purchase anything other than full-frame lenses. Sony describes the lens as follows: This G Lens for E-mount cameras delivers stunning still or movie imagery with the flexibility of 6x power zoom. Maximum aperture is a constant F4 from 18mm wide angle to 105mm medium telephoto, with excellent resolution and contrast throughout. A lever and ring on the lens barrel allow zoom speed to be freely adjusted as required while maintaining a sure, stable grip.

When I used the 18-105mm lens with my FX-30 camera [APS-C sensor] I was very disappointed with the results as many of the images had focus issues or suffered from motion blur. I could not decide if the lens was the problem or if there was something wrong with the camera body so I used a Sigma 14mm lens yesterday and the results were more than acceptable. However, before concluding that the lens was substandard I decided to try it with my very old NEX-7 body [purchased Christmas 2011].

The Sony α NEX-7 is a digital camera announced 24 August 2011 by Sony. It is a mirrorless interchangeable lens camera and as such inherits a smaller body form factor than a traditional digital single-lens reflex camera, while still retaining the sensor size and features of an APS-C-sized model. It is targeted at experienced users, enthusiasts and professionals. It is replaced by the ILCE-6000 (α6000). At the time of its release, the Sony Alpha NEX-7 had the best image quality among any mirrorless interchangeable-lens compact camera which had been tested by DxO Labs and also the best APS-C Sensor camera from Sony. Sony α65, Sony α77 and NEX-7 have similar sensors and received DxOMark Overall Scores of 74, 78, and 81, respectively. The image quality of NEX-7 can be comparable with Nikon D7000 (score 80) and Pentax K-5 (score 82).

I failed to reach a conclusion but I do like using the NEX-7 even though I need to bring at least four spare batteries with me.

The Ha’penny Bridge, known later for a time as the Penny Ha’penny Bridge, and officially the Liffey Bridge, is a pedestrian bridge built in May 1816 over the River Liffey in Dublin, Ireland. Made of cast iron, the bridge was cast in Shropshire, England.

The Millennium Bridge is a pedestrian bridge spanning the River Liffey in Dublin, Ireland, joining Eustace Street in Temple Bar to the north quays. The bridge was installed in December 1999 to commemorate the approaching new millennium in 2000. It was prefabricated in Carlow, 80 km from Dublin, as a portal frame structure made up of a slender steel truss and resting on reinforced concrete haunches. The bridge was designed by Howley Harrington Architects, with Price & Myers as consulting engineers. The concrete base and steel structure for the bridge were provided by two firms from Carlow: Formwork 2000+ and Thompson Engineering respectively. The Millennium Bridge is neighbour to the much older pedestrian Ha’penny Bridge to the east, and Grattan Bridge to the west [where I was located in order to photograph this scene].

SPIRIT OF THE DOCKLANDS

April 6, 2023 by infomatique

GLASS ROOFED TOUR BOAT ON THE RIVER LIFFEY

Dublin’s tour service on the River Liffey. The bright red, glass-roofed tour boat, ‘Spirit of Docklands’ operates between the city centre and the Docklands, exploring the historical sites and landmarks along the River Liffey.

A tour guide delivers entertaining snippets on Dublin life specific to the Liffey and Docklands throughout the journey, offering passengers an intriguing insight into Dublin folklore and history. The script has been developed by leading Dublin historian Pat Liddy. The tour departs from a landing station at Bachelor’s Walk, passing under O’Connell Bridge downstream past the Custom House in Docklands. It reaches the East Link Toll Bridge and the Grand Canal Basin before passing the IFSC and returning to Bachelor’s Walk.

‘Spirit of Docklands’ arrived in Dublin in June 2005. Built in Sweden by boat builders Westers Mekaniska, it can accommodate 50 passengers, is 23 metres long and capable of travelling at 9.5 knots. It is wheelchair accessible and suitable for young and old alike.

The service is the latest of a number of initiatives under the Docklands Authority’s River Regeneration Strategy to bring back life to the River Liffey to give Dubliners and visitors alike an alternative view of the city.

The Liffey River Cruises operates daily, with a journey time of approximately 45 minutes.

AREA NEAR THE THREE SEA LOCKS

March 26, 2023 by infomatique

GRAND CANAL DOCK

Grand Canal Dock originally opened in 1796, as the terminal to the Central Line of the Grand Canal, at the time was the largest dock in the world. A group of three sea locks, Camden, Buckingham and Westmoreland were built in the same year, to connect the River Liffey to Grand Canal Dock. Camden Lock being the largest of the three could facilitate sea vessels. The three locks including two central dock platforms were constructed from tooled granite and designed to accommodate the tidal fluctuations of the River Liffey.

Within 50 years of the docks completion, the sea locks were deemed obsolete. Advances in steam power, left even Camden Lock too small for the new breed of steam ship. This along with the development of the railway led to a steady decline in the use of and necessity for Grand Canal Dock and the Sea Locks.