Road and rail bridge, Comber Road, Ballygowan, Co. Down, BT23 6HA

The road and rail bridge crosses the Ballygowan River on Comber Road, Ballygowan, and carries the road at an angle where it meets a roundabout at the village centre. Constructed originally between 1856 and 1857, the bridge was built to accommodate the new Belfast and County Down Railway line between Comber and Downpatrick, which officially opened in March 1859, and the recently redirected Comber Road. The bridge appears on an Ordnance Survey map from 1858. The north face of the bridge is of semi-coursed basalt with two semicircular arches, featuring sandstone voussoirs, although this face is now largely obscured by greenery. A recent stone parapet has been built on the north side, which now forms the rear wall for a small war memorial. The south face of the bridge is a more recent construction, built with a square concrete arch and a matching parapet. Between 1950, when the railway closed, and approximately 1970, when the road was widened to incorporate the roundabout, the south face of the bridge was rebuilt. The road surface is now tarmac, and the railway track has been removed. The bridge exhibits characteristics of industrial archaeological interest.