#MARINE NOTICE - The latest Marine Notice (No 61 of 2012) from the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport (DTTAS) advises that J Murphy & Sons, on behalf of Dublin City Council, will construct a 600mm emergency overflow pipe from Spencer Dock Pump Station through the Liffey quay wall at North Wall Quay/New Wapping Street Junction, Dublin 1.

The work will commence on or around 23 November 2012 and will last approximately two weeks, weather permitting. The location of the works relating to maritime positions is:

Latitude 53° 20’ 49.431 N / Longitude 006° 14’ 08.171 W

The works area will be marked by red buoys. These buoys will be an appropriate distance from the works area and will clearly identify the scaffold when submerged due to high tide. The cantilever beams will project 1.5 metres out from the quay wall.

The only vessel used during the works will be a rescue boat which will be moored at the works location for its duration.

It is only in recent years that larger vessels can berth at this stretch of the waterfront following the completion of several major construction projects over the last decade. From the building of the Convention Centre and the Samuel Beckett Bridge which involved using the dredger Hebble Sand (click HERE) during its construction process.

In addition the refurbishment of Spencer Dock sea-lock entrance that for many years was closed is now re-opened. The dock entrance featured in the start of the new television series 'Waterways'-The Royal Canal. Episode two is this Sunday on RTE 1 at 8.30pm.

Aside the 79m L.E. Roisin, the last large vessel to berth close to berth 16A was the French 58m tallship Belem, which was chartered by Alliance Francaise to celebrate their 50th anniversary in 2010 and for the inaugural French Hoist the Sail: Market Festival. The three-masted barque built in 1896 was once also owned by the Sir Arthur Ernest Guinness under the name of Fantôme II.

Situated between where L.E. Roisin is currently berthed and where the Belem had moored, is home to the 'resident' M.V. Cill Airne, a floating bar and restaurant dining venue at berth 16B. Another resident is the former lightship Kittiwake at berth 17B, though sited much further downstream at the end of North Wall Quay, opposite the O2 Arena and next to the East-Link Bridge.

There is a fourth resident, again berthed on the north quays, though the Jeanie Johnston unlike her counterparts is moored closer to the city-centre at Custom House Quay. Apart from yachts, leisure-craft and occasional private motor-yachts using the Dublin City Moorings, she is the only vessel to permanently occupy a berth between Samuel Beckett Bridge and the Sean O'Casey foot-bridge.

She remained alongside this berth which is normally used by large commercial ships until the vessel sought a berth much closer to the city-centre. This led to a shift of berths in the evening when the 2003 built vessel headed upriver to the Dublin City Moorings facility at Custom House Quay, but this firstly required transiting through two bridges.

With a beam of 10.6m Fortunate Sun entered through the East-Link toll-lift bridge followed by the Samuel Beckett bridge, the Liffey's newest crossing point which opened in late 2009. The €60m bridge was commissioned by Dublin City Council and designed by the Spanish architect engineer Santiago Calatrava. To read more on the bridge click HERE.

Fortunate Sun is registered in the Caymen Islands and is capable of over 17 knots on a range of 5000 nautical miles. She has a steel hull and an aluminium superstructure and interiors also by Tim Heywood Design. In the early hours of tomorrow morning the vessel built by Oceanfast is to depart through the 5,700 tonnes bridge which was delivered by barge after a five-day voyage from Rotterdam.

There has been previous transits of the bridge notably the annual Dublin Rally organised by the the Inland Waterways Association of Ireland (IWAI). This year's Dublin Rally took place on 1 May when boats travelling on the Royal Canal descended via Croke Park and entered the Liffey at Spencer Dock. This required the Iarnrod Éireann bridge-lift and the water level in Spencer Dock to be lowered so to allow safe clearance under the Sheriff St. bridge.

From there the IWAI flotilla made the short passage downriver to re-enter another inland waterway system at the Grand Canal Dock, marking where the Liffey connects with the city's southern canal. The 2011 Dublin Rally was the first time since 1955 that boats could enter Dublin from the Shannon via the Royal Canal and the first time since 2004 that boats also joined from the Royal Canal.

The Minister for Community, Equality and Gaeltacht Affairs, Pat Carey T.D., today announced the approval of the granting of leases for a number of proposed developments on Dublin's canals on the inland waterways.

The developments include the construction of a cycle bridge across the Royal Canal at Spencer Dock, a boardwalk along the Grand Canal at Leeson Street and a pedestrian/cycle bridge across the Grand Canal at Lynches Lane.

The decision to grant leases to Dublin City Council and South Dublin County Council for the proposed developments was taken at a meeting of the North South Ministerial Council in Armagh this morning. Speaking after the meeting, Minister Carey said the decision to approve the leases had the potential to further transform Dublin's waterways for the benefit of the citizens of Dublin.

Minister Carey said, "Developments like those proposed by Dublin City Council will add to the regeneration of the city and will strengthen the environmental, social and economic fabric of the capital. They will add to the quality of life of all and especially to the quality of life of pedestrians and cyclists."

John Martin, Chief Executive of Waterways Ireland, the cross-border body charged with the all-island promotion and development of waterways is delighted that the Ministers have approved the granting of the leases at the NSMC.

He said "Waterways Ireland is happy to facilitate the development of these waterside amenities in the Dublin Area. We hope to work with all the local authorities on many projects in the future right across the Dublin Region."