Adamstown train station opened on the 10th April 2007. It is just south of the old Lucan South station which closed in 1947.
The station has three through platforms, and was the first Commuter station on the line (other than Heuston Station ) to have more than two platforms. Following the completion of the Kildare Route Project, which lead to the line becoming four-tracked, all platforms could be used.
The station is the first railway station in recent times to be built and paid for by private developers rather than by public money.
Situated over the new railway station, the fabric covered spaceframe canopy installed by MERO (UK) PLC will soon become the central landmark to the new town of Adamstown, that is springing up 16km to the West of Dublin.
From an initial design by Iarnrod Eireann, MERO have engineered a spaceframe structure that spans 50m by 30m, and seems to float above the station’s concourse and the railway lines below, due to it being supported in just four seperate locations on the building. Covered in a lightweight tensioned membrane of PTFE, the canopy provides shelter from the Irish weather whilst allowing light to filter through to the concourse below.
Weighing in at just 37 tonnes, and with a curving aerofoil profile through the canopy, the main design concern was that the canopy would literally take off under high winds, where the uplift was calculated at over three times the canopy’s weight. Through MERO’s advanced modelling techniques, the structure and supports were designed to comfortably withstand these extreme forces whilst retaining the canopy’s lightweight appearance.
Above the MERO spaceframe, 70x70 SHS purlins run parallel to the railway line and are bolted back to each top spaceframe node to provide the support for the fabric membrane. The PTFE membrane, in just 8 huge segments, is fixed into aluminium tracks ontop of the purlins, and tensioned through a perimeter tensioning arrangement to provide the cladding to the canopy. When used in conjuction with the integrated fall arrest system, the membrane can be safely walked over for maintenance.
Due to the need to keep the main Dublin to Cork railway lines open during construction, the entire canopy was constructed on the ground adjacent to the station, and then lifted into position overnight in a four hour railway closure lifting window. Using a 500 tonne crane, MERO successfully executed one of the first lifts of it’s kind in Ireland, providing a spectacular climax to this innovative project.
Container is a 35mm film cannister, BYOP. There is ample parking available at cache location.