Former railway overbridge

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

A single arch stone built former railway overbridge.

A well built sandstone bridge with shallow segmented arch springing from high vertical walls. The parapet lengths are short, only 7 metres and returned at each end with dropped vertical faces to the level of the carriageway and then sloping at 45º to form long buttresses on both sides of the bridge and railway cutting.

The bold voissoirs are rockfaced with tooled margins. The stonework of bridge and buttresses is well and sturdily built with rockface and partly snecked. That on the supporting walls is coursed with fine joints. While the supporting walls of the arch have straight vertical faces, that of the buttresses are battered.

The parapet wall, 1.2 metres high has a hogsback concrete coping and the width between them is 6½ metres. The permanent way is intact with side drains and not overgrown. The sleepers and rails are gone.

The Drumbane Road is narrow and rises to pass over the railway. Hedges are high so that the structure of the bridge is almost unseen.

Historical information

The railway line from Limavady to Dungiven was first proposed in 1862. In 1870s the Skinner’s Company were improving Dungiven with extensive reconstruction and on 4th July 1878 Limavady/Dungiven Railway Act acquired Royal Assent. John Lanyon, son of Sir Charles Lanyon, who was a director in the Board, was appointed engineer. On 21st April 1880 McCrea and McFarland signed contract to construct the line for £39,438 though all the land transactions were incomplete which brought complaints from the contractor. The line opened for passengers and goods traffic on 4th July 1883. The bridge was probably completed the previous year.

References

Secondary Sources
1. J.R.L. Currie The Northern Counties Railway Vol I 1834-1903 pp. 189-197
2. J.S. Curl The Londonderry Plantation 1609-1914 p. 295

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

Not listed

Criteria for listing: historic interest

Not listed

Evaluation

A substantial and interesting sandstone overbridge of the later 19th century on the Limavady/Dungiven Railway line, and a good example of battered and sloping long buttresses to the railway cutting. The bridge is well built in rockfaced stonework in a good state of preservation and is of local interest.