Killibleught Bridge, Drumrane Road, Dungiven, Co Londonderry, BT47

Killibleught Bridge

A three-arch stone bridge of the late 18th century, substantially improved during the 19th century while retaining its essential character. The bridge crosses the Altmover Burn just before it joins the River Roe, occupying a fine rural setting.

The bridge is built on a straight stretch of road with the Altmover Burn passing underneath at right angles. It has a slightly humped carriageway, with a width between parapets of 7 metres and parapets extending 33 metres in length. The three arches vary in design. The two southern arches are three-centred with hefty rustic voussoirs springing from wide concrete haunches, which restrict the stream width. The intrados of the central arch is clean and smooth, displaying its stonework clearly, while the intrados of the other is overgrown with weeds, though the stream bed beneath remains relatively clear. The northern arch appears semi-circular but is actually an acute segment, with its apex higher than the other two arches; the stream flowing through it is silted up. Between each arch, the imposts project upstream and downstream to form cutwaters. The concrete haunching extends well beyond the cutwaters, so that only in major floods would water rise to them. Each arch is approximately 4.5 metres wide.

The tympanum and parapets are constructed of random rubble stone from local quarries. The arch heights are comparatively low, with minimal stonework over the arches rising to the carriageway surface, giving the bridge a low appearance overall. The parapet is approximately one metre high, with rounded coping of smooth rendering carried down the outside of the parapet to form a deep smooth band stretching over the elliptical arches but not the segmented one. The bridge possesses a romantic appearance, with a laneway along the riverbank historically used to facilitate collection of water for farming activities.

According to the Ordnance Survey Memoirs, the bridge was originally described as built substantially of freestone with three semi-circular arches of 12 feet span. This historical record suggests that the two elliptical arches were rebuilt, likely during the Victorian period, though a construction joint is not obviously visible. The original bridge dates from the late 18th century, with probable substantial widening occurring during the 19th century. The bridge is considered to be of industrial archaeological interest.