Survey Data
Reg No
15704015
Rating
Regional
Categories of Special Interest
Architectural, Historical, Social, Technical
Original Use
Viaduct
In Use As
Viaduct
Date
1900 - 1910
Coordinates
282029, 114584
Date Recorded
27/09/2009
Date Updated
--/--/--
Description
Seven-arch viaduct over river valley, built 1904-6; opened 1906. Damaged, 1922. Reconstructed, 1923. Red brick English bond walls centred on red brick English bond piers on precast concrete chamfered cushion courses on plinths with precast concrete stringcourses supporting parapets having precast concrete coping centred on corbelled pedestrian refuges. Series of seven round arches with red brick header bond voussoirs. Sited spanning Owenduff River valley.
Appraisal
A viaduct erected by Sir Robert McAlpine and Company (established 1869) of Glasgow identified as an important component of the early twentieth-century civil engineering of south County Wexford on account of the connections with the development of the Fishguard and Rosslare Railway (FRR) line opened (1906) by the Fishguard and Rosslare Railways and Harbours (FRRH) Company with the architectural value of the composition confirmed not only by the vibrant red brick surface finish facing an innovative mass concrete "hearting", but also by the lofty "sweep" of the arches making a dramatic visual statement in a sylvan setting (cf. 15704625): meanwhile, scattered debris illustrates the near-total destruction of the viaduct during "The Troubles" (1919-23).