Survey Data
Reg No
22805032
Rating
National
Categories of Special Interest
Architectural, Historical, Social, Technical
Original Use
Bridge
Date
1875 - 1880
Coordinates
239510, 106211
Date Recorded
22/07/2003
Date Updated
--/--/--
Description
Seven-arch rubble stone railway viaduct over road, opened 1878, with single-span section to centre. Closed, 1982. Squared rubble limestone walls with batter to north-west, cut-stone stringcourse, and cut-stone coping to parapets. Series of seven round arches on squared rubble stone piers having rusticated cut-stone stringcourses to springs of arches, dressed rubble limestone voussoirs, and squared rubble limestone soffits having traces of lime render over. Single cast-iron span to centre on cast-iron girders having lattice supports with sections of replacement tubular iron railings, c.1950, over. Freestanding railway signal, c.1950, to north-west.
Appraisal
An elegantly-composed railway viaduct, built to designs prepared by James Otway (1843 - 1906) by Smith Finlaysaon and Company, Glasgow, which forms an imposing landmark in the centre of Kilmacthomas. The civil engineering heritage significance of the composition is identified by the form and construction of the arches, which have retained their original profile, together with the central span incorporating early cast-iron work. The construction in squared rubble limestone attests to high quality stone masonry, and produces an appealing textured visual effect in the landscape. The viaduct, one of a pair in the immediate locality (with 22805035/WD-15-05-35), is of particular significance as a reminder of the development of the Great Southern and Western Railway line by the Waterford, Dungarvan, and Lismore Railway Company in the late nineteenth century, which promoted the economy of smaller urban areas, such as Kilmacthomas.