Survey Data
Reg No
41401703
Rating
Regional
Categories of Special Interest
Architectural, Technical
Original Use
Viaduct
Date
1920 - 1930
Coordinates
253812, 324792
Date Recorded
24/05/2012
Date Updated
--/--/--
Description
Eight-span railway viaduct, built c.1925, to replace earlier lattice girder viaduct, built c.1858. Original abutment wing walls to east and west elevations, rock-faced rusticated stone having dressed copings, terminating in square-plan piers. Reinforced concrete piers, shouldered and tapered, shoulders and top coped with concrete, V-banding to each. Original abutments faced with identical reinforced concrete piers. Steel-plate girder spans now removed and top much overgrown.
Appraisal
This substantial viaduct was built to replace a lattice girder viaduct supported on cross-braced metal uprights, which carried the Dundalk and Enniskillen Railway over an ornamental lake which formed part of Ballynure Demesne. Although the steel girder spans of the current bridge have been removed, it is indicative of ongoing technological development in civil engineering in Ireland into the early part of the twentieth century, with increased use of materials such as steel and reinforced concrete. This viaduct is of historical and social significance as a reminder of the development of the railway network in Ireland, bringing about technological advances and developing commercial activity from the mid-nineteenth century. Cutting through the surrounding terrain, it is a subtle but important landmark in the area.