Altheela Bridge Ballypatrick, Co.Antrim

Altheela Bridge is a skew-arched masonry road bridge built in 1834 over a minor stream on the Cushendall–Ballycastle section of the A2 road in County Antrim. Despite its modest scale, the bridge demonstrates exceptional quality in its construction and detailing.

The bridge is built in squared rubble mica schist brought to courses, following a slight curve in plan. Its abutments are set at a slight angle to the face and are embellished with rock-faced and margined sandstone quoins. The semicircular arch is accentuated with margined sandstone voussoirs. Both faces of the arch are reinforced with shallow buttresses that sweep down and away from the bridge, with their inner ends curving inwards in the direction of the arch. The edge where these two curved surfaces meet is picked out in dressed sandstone. A sandstone string course of half-circle profile runs across the bridge just above the crown of the arch. The low parapets are coped with sloping sandstone blocks, with slightly raised square blocks at each end. The stream bed is pitched with stone to minimise scouring. Short rubble masonry approach walls continue beyond the bridge parapets.

The bridge is notable for its elegant curved abutments, an unusual feature on so small a structure. A reconstituted stone plaque on the downstream (east) parapet reads "Altheela/Bridge", though a short section of parapet coping immediately above has been replaced with cast concrete. The original copings of the approach walls have also been replaced with cast concrete. The surrounding landscape was originally open moorland but has since been planted with conifers by the Forestry Service.

The bridge was constructed as part of the Antrim Coast Road scheme (1832–42), the largest civil engineering project in Ireland at that time. Built under the direction of Scottish engineer William Bald for the Commissioners of Public Works in Ireland, this section of road was not fully completed until autumn 1835, though the bridge itself was dated 1834. The original plaque read "Avltheela/ 1834" (with the 'v' signifying 'u'), but the present replacement plaque from 2004–05 carries only the name without this detail. The bridge has group value with neighbouring bridges along this road: Craigacat Bridge, Corratavey Bridge, Bush Burn Bridge, and Altadreen Bridge. Much of the bridge's original fabric survives unaltered. The road and its associated bridges improved social and economic networking throughout the region, underlining the bridge's local importance.