There were 65 construction cranes visible over the centre of Dublin on March 1st from the seventh floor of The Irish Times building on Tara Street. This is an increase of five – or 8 per cent – on February's total of 60 and a rise of 31 (or 91 per cent) on the 34 cranes recorded on February 1st, 2016, when The Irish Times crane survey was launched.
Construction is still concentrated on the south side where there were 56 cranes – an increase of four (or 8 per cent) on the February total – as building work is accelerating in the south docks where the concentration of cranes is most obvious.
Ten cranes were visible north of the Liffey – a rise of two (or 25 per cent) on February. This total looks set to rise rapidly as clearance work is under way at a number of substantial sites in the north docks.
Site clearance work
For example, site clearance work has just started beside the Gibson Hotel to prepare for a 935 bed space student accommodation scheme in two seven-storey blocks. A consortium of investors paid more than €20 million for the 2.38-acre site only last September. About a dozen similar residential schemes are either under way or in the pipeline.
Nearby, diggers are busy clearing the way for the €600 million mixed-use Spencer Place scheme on a six-acre site beside the new Central Bank on North Wall Quay. This is perhaps the biggest project underway in the capital and, when complete, will have more than a million square feet of space.
Next door at the Dublin Landings development Ballymore Oxley has just confirmed that it plans to start construction on three further office blocks which will deliver an additional 30,679sq m (330,000sq ft) of office accommodation by the end of 2019.
Work is also underway to replace the Grace Bible Fellowship community building on Pearse Street with a four-storey over basement building. To the rear, construction is also underway on a seven-storey extension to the Trinity City Hotel.
Meanwhile, refurbishment of the former BJ Marine warehouse on Sir John Rogerson’s Quay is well advanced with it set to become an art gallery with exhibition hall and a tea room.
With the economy expected to continue its recovery and a number of significant developments due to enter the construction phase shortly, it is likely the number of cranes on Dublin’s skyline will increase.
The Irish Times will be conducting a crane survey once a month to track construction levels in the city.
