Survey Data
Reg No
13008021
Rating
Regional
Categories of Special Interest
Architectural, Technical
Original Use
Bridge
In Use As
Bridge
Date
1855 - 1865
Coordinates
213862, 275104
Date Recorded
16/06/2009
Date Updated
--/--/--
Description
Freestanding single-span railway bridge, built c. 1857, carrying Dublin to Sligo railway line over road. Squared and snecked rock-faced limestone abutments to either side (east and west). Flat deck having steel girder supports and riveted steel parapets to either side (north and south). Rubble stone wing walls to either side. Located to the southeast of Longford Town centre and to the east of Longford Town Railway Station (13004044).
Appraisal
This imposing railway bridge retains its early form and character. The use of rock-faced limestone accentuates its imposing form and its construction is typical of mid-to-late nineteenth-century railway engineering/architecture in Ireland. The steel deck may be a late-nineteenth/early-twentieth century replacement of an earlier span. It was originally built by the Midland and Great Western Railway Company to serve the Mullingar to Sligo line, which reached as far as Longford Town in 1855 and was completed in 1862. It forms part of an interesting group of structures related with Longford Town Railway Station (13004044) and it represents an integral component of the architectural and industrial heritage of Longford Town, and of the social and economic history of the County Longford. It is an interesting landmark along the main approach road into Longford Town from the southeast.