Survey Data
Reg No
15402909
Rating
Regional
Categories of Special Interest
Architectural, Social, Technical
Original Use
Bridge
In Use As
Bridge
Date
1850 - 1855
Coordinates
210316, 240272
Date Recorded
10/10/2004
Date Updated
--/--/--
Description
Single-arched railway bridge, built c.1851, carrying former Midland Great Western Railway Mullingar to Athlone line over small rural road. No longer in active use. Constructed of rusticated limestone with rock-faced limestone voussoirs to arch and ashlar limestone coping over the parapet walls. Snecked limestone retaining walls support embankment to either side of bridge. Located to the east 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 Midland and Great Western Railway Company to serve the Mullingar to Athlone line, which opened 1851 and closed in 1987. This bridge is one of a number of similar bridges in the area associated with this company. The narrow round-headed opening and the snecked retaining walls give this bridge a distinctly tunnel-like appearance. This bridge is well-built using rock-faced and snecked limestone, a typical feature of mid nineteenth-century engineering projects of this nature.