Railway Viaduct, Glen Park, Off Shore Road, Newtownabbey, Co Antrim, BT37

Railway Viaduct, Glen Park, Off Shore Road, Newtownabbey

This high and well-proportioned railway viaduct forms a dramatic feature of the Three Mile Valley. It is a twin-arch masonry structure carrying one track of the Belfast-Larne railway over the Three Mile Water (here known as Valentine's Glen). The viaduct's basalt stonework is of high quality, enlivened by sandstone embellishments. The abutments, pier, spandrels and parapets are constructed from quarry-dressed squared random rubble. The arches are of semicircular profile and equal size, with the river flowing through the north arch and a footpath now running through the south one.

The arches feature rusticated vee-jointed sandstone voussoirs, many of which have been replaced with engineering brick; the soffits are also of brick, probably original. Curved random rubble wing walls project on each side toward the river bank and are faced with squared random rubble. The structure is embellished with tooled quoins to the abutments and pier, rusticated sandstone string courses through the arches at spring level and across the base of the parapets, and sandstone coping blocks to the parapets and wing walls. A modern galvanised steel railing has been added across the top.

Of particular structural interest are the cast-metal braces near the foot of each arch—three sets in parallel, each comprising four sections bolted together. These braces counteract the thrusts imposed on the footings by the relatively high embankments on each side and are rarely found in bridges. They are set into the stonework with cement-rich mortar, suggesting they were either rebedded or are later additions.

This section of railway between Belfast (York Street) and Greenisland was opened by the Belfast & Ballymena Railway Company in 1848. The bridge was designed by Charles Lanyon, the company's Consulting Engineer, and built by William Dargan. Originally, the viaduct served both the Belfast-Ballymena and Belfast-Carrickfergus lines, which were extended to Londonderry and Larne in 1852 and 1862 respectively. The relatively indirect route via this bridge was necessitated by the enormous expense of crossing the Three Mile Water by a more direct route further west.

With the opening of the Greenisland Loop in 1934 by the London, Midland & Scottish Railway (Northern Counties Committee), all Derry-bound traffic began running directly via Monkstown rather than Greenisland. A reinforced-concrete viaduct was erected just west of this one in 1934 to carry the 'down' traffic from Belfast to Larne over Valentine's Glen. Thereafter, this bridge was confined to carrying the 'up' traffic from Larne to Belfast, a function it still serves.

The viaduct is located in what is now a public park, spanning the river valley among mature planting and naturalised vegetation. It has group interest and forms an illuminating contrast with the reinforced-concrete viaducts to its west. The bridge is of local historical interest, being not only on the Belfast-Carrickfergus line but originally also on the Belfast-Ballymena line, representing the most economical crossing point at that time.