Survey Data
Reg No
11818065
Rating
Regional
Categories of Special Interest
Architectural, Artistic, Historical, Social, Technical
Original Use
Foot bridge
In Use As
Foot bridge
Date
1845 - 1850
Coordinates
279690, 215613
Date Recorded
--/--/--
Date Updated
--/--/--
Description
Single-arch cast-iron footbridge over railway line, built 1846, approached by flight of steps to north-west (with open stair well cell to railway station to south-east). Red brick walls to flight of steps. Round-headed blind openings following gradient of steps with red brick voussoirs. Cut-granite steps over having cast-iron railings. Single shallow segmental arch with cast-iron beams having cast-iron deck panels over and lattice work wrought iron parapet walls. Sited spanning Great Southern and Western Railway line in grounds shared with Newbridge Railway Station complex.
Appraisal
This footbridge is of considerable interest, representing the technical achievements of the nineteenth century, including the early use of cast-iron. The footbridge forms a graceful feature on the railway line and is one of a number of similar bridges spanning the line that cuts through County Kildare. The construction of the arch is of considerable technical or engineering merit, while the lattice work wrought iron parapet walls are of some artistic merit having been designed as aesthetic, as well as functional, pieces. The construction of the steps is also of some significance, the red brick attesting to the improvements made in the manufacturing industry in the nineteenth century facilitating the mass-production of economic building materials. The bridge, together with the remaining structures in the Newbridge Railway Station complex, is of considerable historical and social significance, having been built as part of the railway network development in Ireland that improved the efficiency of public transport and linked remote areas of the country with larger urban settlements and ports.