Railway underbridge MDL1/24, Jack Lane

The railway underbridge for the Leeds, Dewsbury & Manchester Railway line was built in the mid-1840s by Thomas Grainger. It features materials such as cast-iron and quarry-faced sandstone with ashlar piers.

This shallow arched, cast-iron beam bridge carries the railway line over Jack Lane, which is situated in a deep gully, resulting in substantial abutments and wing walls. The bridge is detailed similarly on both sides. The angled abutments are made of rectangular, rusticated stone blocks, complete with a plinth and a moulded cornice, which has demi-acorn finials at the corners. These abutments end in square ashlar piers that rise to track level, where a moulded cornice is present, above which are narrower square parapet piers.

Gently curving and angled wing walls with square ashlar coping are attached to the piers, terminating in square piers topped with shallow pyramidal caps. The south-east wing wall has a later stone wall built upon part of it, while the stone coursing of the south-west wing wall extends into another section of walling that features stone bands related to a second bridge that once existed here.

The bridge is adorned with a simple cast-iron balustrade composed of stick balusters, which are supported by cast-iron fascia beams that originate from a moulded impost band on the quarry-faced local sandstone abutments. Each fascia beam consists of an arched girder with infilled spandrels above, topped with a moulded flange that supports the iron balustrading. The rebuilt track deck incorporates riveted steel beams and transverse joints.