Landscape Changing At Lansdowne

The old Lansdowne Road stadium now looks very different to how it did on November 26 last year when the Irish rugby team signed off at the ground with a memorable 61-17 defeat of the Pacific Islanders.

Demolition work began at Lansdowne three weeks ago, with an initial concentration on the South Terrace. The demolition period is expected to last seven months – May saw the commencement of the demolition of the South Terrace, the ‘soft strip’ of the West Stand, and removal of the lower terrace and roof from the West Stand is ongoing.

The removal of the West Stand’s roof sheets, which is being done by two crews, began on Tuesday of last week. It is projected that this work will take a further two to three weeks to complete.

The ‘soft strip’ of the West Stand is mainly internal to that stand. It includes the removal of wood, partitioning, lights, etc., all of which will go for recycling.

Work has also commenced on the demolition of the North Terrace and the East Stand at the north end – the target for completion of the demolition of the East Stand is the end of August.

It is planned that the new stadium will be ready to host matches in 2010.

The following is the broad schedule of works involved in the demolition of the existing Lansdowne Road stadium and the construction of the new stadium:

Demolition and rail corridor contract: May 2007 to December 2007
Substructure contract: May 2007 to May 2008
Main stadium contract: July 2007 to October 2009
Structural steelwork contract: September 2007 to September 2009
Roofing and cladding contract: May 2008 to September 2009
Mechanical contract: February 2008 to October 2009
Electrical contract: March 2008 to October 2009
Pitch installation contract: April 2009 to October 2009
Commissioning: October 2008 to December 2009

For more information on the project, please visit www.lrsdc.ie

If you would like to remember Lansdowne Road as it used to be the IRFU have commissioned an exclusive range of fine art drawings – click here