Bridge at Gorticrum Road, Artigarvan, Strabane, Co Tyrone BT82

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

A late 19th C single-arch concrete road bridge over the Glenmornan River, 3km ESE of Artigarvan. It is surrounded by fields to all sides and lies 130m south of St Joseph's Church (HB10/11/007).
This bridge is of mass concrete throughout. The abutments and soffit of its semicircular orthogonal arch (3.8m span) exhibit the marks of the timber shuttering (falsework) used in their construction. The spandrels on both elevations are smooth cement rendered. The concrete parapets (4.9m in-in) have a high admixture of random rubble and are chamfered along their tops. The slightly splayed approach walls in-step from base to top (45cm thick) on their outside faces and have no terminal piers. The road hereabouts is embanked above the floodplain. There are no traces of the original ford to the west, or of the former road line on the north side of the river.

Historical information

The first reference to a bridge hereabouts is in the Co Tyrone Grand Jury Presentment for the Barony of Lower Strabane on 22 December 1893. An application was made for the cost of a 28 perches (165m) of new road in the townlands of Brownhill (on the north side of the Glenmoran River) and Knocknahorna (to the south), "and to build a 15ft [span] bridge between the two towlands" at a cost of £120. Despite several objections, the application was approved by the Jury.
The proposed bridge replaced a ford across the Glenmoran Stream which is shown (but not captioned) on the 1854 OS map, c.50m west (downstream) of the bridge.
When exactly its construction started is uncertain but work had been completed before 1906. The bridge is clearly shown on the 1905 OS map and on subsequent editions, with the road now realigned to run directly towards the main road and St Joseph's Church. There is also a newspaper reference to a public meeting at the 'new' bridge at Glenmoran Church in August 1905. In all probability, it was erected in the period 1893-95.
This bridge's plain utilitarian style and design is not the horizontal beam type usually found in most concrete bridges but, rather, mimics the form of 19th C masonry- and brick-arched bridges.
Drumlone Bridge, Co Fermanagh dates from 1908 and is claimed to be the oldest reinforced-concrete bridge in Ulster. Its horizontal span is reinforced with steel bars, the design and configuration of which was patented by Francoise Hennebique in 1892. The earliest such reinforced-concrete bridge was built in Waterford City in 1905. Indeed, there were a number of patented reinforcing systems around at that time, e.g. the American Kahn system which was used for the horizontal spans of the King's Bridge, Belfast (HB26/02/009). The crux of the matter is whether the Glenmornan Bridge has patented reinforcing. If it does, it would therefore be the earliest known example in Ireland.
Two lines of evidence suggest that it is probably not reinforced. Firstly, the parapets which one would expect to be reinforced (to counteract vehicular impacts) incorporate relatively large stones in addition to the usual gravel matrix found in concrete. Such stones would have greatly restricted the placing of reinforcing bars. Secondly, there is no structural reason for any reinforcement in the substructure as the span is arched rather than horizontal and is therefore intrinsically stable.
Whilst it is possible that steel beams might have been placed her and there within the concrete matrix, the bridge cannot be said to be of reinforced-concrete in the accepted use of this term. Rather, it is almost certainly of mass concrete throughout. The use of structural concrete was still in its infancy in Ireland and this particular example is innovative as an attested early example of its use, even if not reinforced.

References - Primary sources:
1. PRONI OS/6/6/5/2. Second Edition OS 1:10,560 map Co Tyrone sheet 5 (1854).
2. Derry Journal, 25 Dec 1893, p.7.
3. PRONI OS/10/6/5/7/1. First Edition OS 1:2500 map, Co Tyrone sheet 5-07 (1905).
4. Derry Journal, 11 Aug 1905, p.8.
5. PRONI OS/10/6/5/7/2. Second Edition OS 1:2500 map, Co Tyrone sheet 5-07 (1951).

References - Secondary sources:
1. Mouchel, L.G. & Partners, Hennebique Ferro-Concrete (London, 1909).
2. Cox, R.C. & Gould, M.H., Civil Engineering Heritage - Ireland, p.188 (London: Thomas Telford, 1998).

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

A. Style
F. Structural System
G. Innovatory Qualities
J. Setting

Criteria for listing: historic interest

S. Authenticity
T. Historic Importance
R. Age
Z. Rarity
X. Local Interest

Evaluation

A late 19th Century single-arch concrete road bridge over the Glenmornan River, near Artigarvan in Strabane, Co. Tyrone
The bridge's style and design are not typical of concrete bridges, usually horizontal beam type. Designed with an arched opening and constructed in mass concrete with a high admixture of random rubble, it mimics the form of 19th C masonry- and brick-arched bridges. Located in an unspoilt setting nearby St Josephs Chuch (HB10/11/007), it is an authentic and rare example of a rural road bridge and an early example of structural concrete.