King's Bridge, Stranmillis/Annadale Embankment, Belfast

A four-span road bridge across the River Lagan, of reinforced-concrete throughout. Each of its piers comprises two uprights with angled cutwater ends. These uprights probably form part of a submerged A-frame rather than separate piles. Across the top of each pair of uprights is a triangulated concrete frame which carries three continuous longitudinal beams. There is also a longitudinal beam along each side, on which the parapet is built and which is supported on vertical columns at the outside ends of the piers; these uprights are embellished with semicircular headed recesses on their outside faces. The three inside beams support smaller multiple beams running transversely between the side beams. It is on these transverse beams that the deck slab has been cast. The two middle spans are slightly wider than the end ones and the latter are slightly inclined upwards from the bank towards the middle. A large cast-metal pipe (?water) is slung from the underside of the deck. According to Cox and Gould, the overall span of the bridge is 195ft and its width is 30ft. The two middle spans are 50ft long and their supporting longitudinal beams are of 51in x 13in cross-section. The outer spans are 40ft long and rest on three beams of 42in x 12in section. The parapets have shallow rectangular panel recesses along their outer faces. They are punctuated by intermediate parapet piers which rise from the piers below. The parapet piers (10 in all including the end ones) each carry a cast-iron lamp standard, on the base of which is their maker’s details: D.W. Windsor, Ware, Herts, England. The lamps are electrified but no longer in use. Modern lights have also been attached along the underneath edges of the deck to illuminate the bridge at night. The carriageway carries two lanes of one-way traffic and a footpath along each side. There are traffic lights at both ends and a 7.5 tonne weight limit sign at its NW end. The ends of the bridge parapets continue as quarter-circle concrete bank-retaining walls. On the road side, these walls project just above footpath level and carry cast-iron posts which formerly supported two horizontal tubular steel railings. These have been replaced with vertical steel railings.