Survey Data
Reg No
40905380
Rating
Regional
Categories of Special Interest
Architectural, Technical
Original Use
Bridge
In Use As
Bridge
Date
1905 - 1915
Coordinates
218604, 411056
Date Recorded
14/11/2013
Date Updated
--/--/--
Description
Triple-arched former railway bridge, built c. 1909, carrying road over the former Strabane to Letterkenny narrow gauge railway line. Railway line now out of use with tracks removed (c. 1960). Rubble stone construction to spandrels and parapets with rubble stone and cement rendered coping over parapets. Three round-headed arches with concrete voussoirs; cement lined arch barrels. Arches blocked to east with lean-to corrugated iron sheds built against arches. Located to the east of the centre of Letterkenny. Earlier railway bridge adjacent to the south (see 40905322).
Appraisal
This small-scale former railway bridge retains its original form and character despite the closure of the line in 1960. It survives in relatively good condition, which is testament to the quality of its original construction, and of the ambitions of the railway company involved in its initial construction. It is constructed in local rubble stone masonry while the concrete voussoirs to the arches are a feature of many bridges built along this line. It was originally built by the Strabane to Letterkenny Railway Company (worked by the Donegal Railway Company Joint Committee) as part of the Strabane to Letterkenny narrow gauge (3-foot) railway line, which opened in January 1909 and closed on the 1st of January 1960. This former railway bridge forms part of a group of related structures associated with this former railway line, and is an integral element of the built heritage and transport history of the county. It forms a pair of related structures along with the slightly earlier railway bridge adjacent to the south (see 40905322).