Survey Data
Reg No
50080277
Rating
Regional
Categories of Special Interest
Architectural, Social, Technical
Original Use
Bridge
In Use As
Bridge
Date
1870 - 1880
Coordinates
312997, 234343
Date Recorded
23/05/2013
Date Updated
--/--/--
Description
Single-span box truss railway bridge, erected c.1875, to carry Amiens Street & North Wall Branch of GS&WR over River Liffey. Wrought-iron lattice parapets and flat span carriageway supported on rock-faced rusticated limestone abutments, line continuing north and south on round-headed arches. Rock-faced rusticated limestone voussoirs, spandrels, and parapets, cut limestone platbands at impost level. Carved granite string course at base of parapets. V-cutwaters to east and west of abutment to south, cut limestone coping.
Appraisal
The Amiens Street & North Wall Branch line was built to connect the GS&WR at Heuston Station with North Wall freight station and the MGWR at Amiens Street, and passes over the Liffey Railway Bridge prior to entering the Phoenix Park Tunnel. It remains in use today for freight carriage. It is a fine example of the quality of craftsmanship employed by the GS&WR in the construction of utilitarian structures. The marriage of traditional styles of stonemasonry and new technology of iron-working is of technical interest, particularly the use of a box-truss form for the main span. This technology developed exponentially with the expansion of the railway system in the second half of the nineteenth century. The bridge is an important physical reminder of the early civil engineering and industrial heritage of Dublin.