Derby Road Bridge (SPC8 25)

Derby Road Bridge is a Grade II listed structure made of coursed and squared Coal Measure sandstone, with tooled Derbyshire gritstone dressings. The underside of the bridge features a soffit of skew-set red brick.

The bridge has a single segmental arch that follows the standard dimensions of the Stephensons’ overbridges, with a span of 30 feet and an original rise of 16 feet. The north and south faces of the bridge are identical. The arch consists of ashlar voussoirs that spring from impost bands, which extend into the underside of the bridge, featuring lower courses of coursed quarry-faced stone. On either side of the arch are raked, concave piers with quoins. The abutment angles out to meet the piers and is topped with a pitched coping stone. The wing walls are splayed and raked, ending in half-hexagonal piers on bases.

Above the arch, there is a prominent roll moulding with a tooled finish that runs the length of the bridge. The parapet features a broad ashlar course with a chamfered top edge, followed by two courses of stone with picked surfaces and tooled margins. The square-moulded coping stones are tooled and have a slight fall to the outer edge. The inside faces of the parapets have two to three courses, increasing due to the gradient of the roadway. The outer face of the high mileage parapet shows patches of cleaner stone, suggesting a re-facing, which is not evident on the inner (road) side of the parapet. There is no other evidence of alteration.