Bungy chords across bridges ??

suicide_circus

About a month ago i noticed two elastic ropes lying width ways across mellowes brige (which crosses the liffey between church street and ushers quay). The are on the ground so cars can drive over them and are secured on both sides of the bridge. On one side there is some kind of metal box which i imagine contains some measuring equipment.
What's this for? Measuring vibrations was my first thought. Have since seen.the same set up.on other bridges across the liffey.
Anyone have any info on what the craic is?
Thanks!

fly_agaric

No info but there is (was?) something like this set up on both sides of O'Connell bridge. The Magic box attached to it had some stuff about "counting" written on it so probably making traffic flow measurements (counting vehicles driving over the cables).

DavyD_83

Yep, they count cars crossing the bridge

suicide_circus

DavyD_83 wrote: »

Yep, they count cars crossing the bridge

Who is doing it and why?

chin_grin

suicide_circus wrote: »

Who is doing it and why?

Central Statistics Office?

http://www.cso.ie/en/index.html

frag420

suicide_circus wrote: »

Who is doing it and why?

The troll under the bridge. Its part of his deal with the council, free accomodation in return for some light market research and some general admin duties.

Rumours of him patrolling the boardwalk were quashed as he fears for his safety up there!!:D

suicide_circus

Hmmm sounds plausible

teddybear178

Cities use the meters to determine traffic flow and the speed of the traffic at a specific location. Reasons for their use; are new lights or a crossing needed there? is it a particularly dangerous locale? should they increase or decrease the posted speed limit?

monument

The devices count all traffic and it can tell the difference between cars, buses, bikes etc.

It's most likely Dublin City Council that put them in place, but it could be other bodies such as the NTA or maybe the RPA.

ThisRegard

There's a fairly extensive survey going around the city at the moment, not just around the bridges but I think they're also around Mount Street and Grand Canal Street amongst others.

youcancallmeal

Usually anywhere up to a year before a big traffic change goes live you will see these traffic measuring devices in and around the area affected. In this case its all related to the new bridge they are building. When it is complete they will probably make adjustments to traffic flow i.e. changing light sequences, restricting turning at various junctions etc. This is to ensure that traffic still keeps flowing relatively smoothly in the city center and no unforeseen knock on effects are encountered.

ollaetta

There's a set of these down near St. Patrick's Cathedral for the last week or so. According to DCC Traffic Department there are a number of them around the city at the moment counting traffic on behalf of the National Transport Authority.

Apparently, the counters can differentiate between bikes, cars, lorries etc. based on vehicle weight and also records the direction they are going in.

Miss Lockhart

They were all over Lucan for a few weeks around May. Was wondering what they were! Thanks