Survey Data
Reg No
13401334
Original Use
Bridge
Date
1920 - 1950
Coordinates
211895, 273321
Date Recorded
24/08/2005
Date Updated
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Description
Single-arch road bridge carrying road over Royal Canal, built c. 1935. Now out of use. Incorporates dressed limestone fabric (base of arch/footing and to abutment) from earlier canal bridge to site, built c. 1829. Square-headed reinforced concrete deck with downstand concrete beams. Cement rendered spandrel walls with projecting smooth cement rendered piers on square-plan having stepped coping over. Cement rendered parapets with recessed square-headed panels and concrete coping over; projecting string course at road deck level. Roughcast rendered wing walls to either side.
Appraisal
This utilitarian bridge of solid, functional appearance, retains its original form and is a good example of civil engineering techniques dating to the first half of the twentieth century. The engineering heritage significance of the bridge is identified by the construction of the span in reinforced concrete. Although now disused due to a road straightening and widening scheme, this bridge continues to provide an architectural feature in the landscape as it is highly visible both from the road and from the canal towpath. The cut stone walls visible from the towpath are typical of the high level of design and craftsmanship involved in canal structures, while its low level is due to later concrete alterations once the canal had closed to traffic. The plastic possibilities of concrete are exploited to create piers and panels to provide decorative interest, while the structural properties of reinforced concrete allow for a wide deck rather than an arch.