Survey Data
Reg No
15402906
Rating
Regional
Categories of Special Interest
Architectural, Technical
Original Use
Bridge
In Use As
Bridge
Date
1850 - 1860
Coordinates
207476, 238194
Date Recorded
10/10/2004
Date Updated
--/--/--
Description
Single-arched railway bridge, built c.1859, carrying road over former Great Southern and Great Western Railway Company’s Portarlington to Athlone railway line. Still in active use. Constructed of snecked rusticated limestone with rock-faced limestone voussoirs to the arch, ashlar limestone string course at road level and ashlar limestone coping over parapet walls. Located to the southeast of Athlone.
Appraisal
A robust and elegantly-appointed railway bridge representing an important element of the transport and civil engineering heritage of County Westmeath. This bridge was originally built by the Great Southern and Western Railway Company to serve the Portarlington to Athlone line, which opened in 1859. This bridge is one of a number of similar bridges in the area associated with this company. This bridge is well-built using snecked rusticated limestone, a typical feature of mid nineteenth-century engineering projects of this nature.