Survey Data
Reg No
15403503
Rating
Regional
Categories of Special Interest
Architectural, Technical
Original Use
Bridge
In Use As
Bridge
Date
1855 - 1860
Coordinates
209076, 236996
Date Recorded
04/11/2004
Date Updated
--/--/--
Description
Single-arched railway bridge, built c.1859, carrying road over former Great Southern and Great Western Railway Company’s Portarlington to Athlone railway line. Still in active use. Bridge crosses railway lines at a slightly skewed angle. Constructed of snecked rusticated limestone with an ashlar limestone string course at road level, ashlar limestone coping over parapet walls and brick voussoirs to the arch. Located to the southeast of Athlone.
Appraisal
A robust and elegantly-appointed railway bridge representing an important element of the transport and civil engineering heritage of County Westmeath. This bridge was originally built by the Great Southern and Western Railway Company to serve the Portarlington to Athlone line, which opened in 1859. This bridge is one of a number of similar bridges in the area associated with this company. This bridge is well-built using snecked rusticated limestone, a typical feature of mid nineteenth-century engineering projects of this nature. Kilgarvan Bridge is an attractive feature in the landscape to the southeast of Athlone.