Railway Bridge, Near 88 Killyvally Road, Garvagh, Coleraine, Co Londonderry, BT51

Railway Bridge, Killyvally Road

This single-arched brick-and-stone road bridge was constructed in 1878–79 as part of the Derry Central Railway, which ran between Magherafelt and Macfin Junction. The bridge carries a minor road over the former railway line, here running in a deep cutting along the side of a hill. Work on the line began in September 1877 under contractor C.M. Holland of Liverpool, with James Barton serving as architect and engineer. The railway opened in February 1880 and was operated by the Belfast & Northern Counties Railway, connecting its Belfast–Londonderry line near Coleraine with its Antrim–Cookstown Branch at Magherafelt. The BNCR acquired the line outright in 1901 and was itself taken over by the Midland Railway (Northern Counties Committee) in 1903, which was reconstituted as the London, Midland & Scottish Railway (Northern Counties Committee) in 1923. At nationalisation in 1949, the line passed to the Ulster Transport Authority, who closed it the following year. The disused railway is now a field accommodation track.

The bridge is constructed principally of random rubble basalt, except for its brick soffit. The abutments feature rusticated and margined quoins topped with a string course, though this does not run through the arch at spring level. Beyond the main abutments are shallow tapered abutments with similarly detailed quoins. The arch is of semi-elliptical profile, with five soldier courses of brick forming its arch ring. The bricks are laid skewly to form the soffit—a distinctive feature of its construction. The arch span is such that it could have accommodated two lines of track, though only a single line was ever laid; a stone-faced earthen bank runs along the inside face of the southwest abutment where the second track would have run. The parapets are coped with large stones and terminate in slightly projecting piers, around the bases of which are basalt string courses similar to the quoins. Some stonework at the north end of the southeast parapet and south end of the northwest parapet has been dislodged by vehicle impacts. The road makes a dog-leg bend at each end of the bridge and remains in everyday use.

The bridge is a good example of well-executed railway engineering with modest embellishment. Its historical significance lies in its role as a tangible reminder of the former railway and in its construction to accommodate double-track working, despite only single-track installation. The bridge is situated in wooded countryside with the public road at northeast and southwest, and private tracks at northwest and southeast.