Railway bridge over canal, Station Rd, Moira, Craigavon, Co Armagh, BT67

Railway bridge over canal, Station Road, Moira

This highly skewed brick and masonry bridge carries the double-track Lisburn-Lurgan section of the Belfast-Dublin railway over the former Lagan Canal just west of Moira Station. Built in 1883, it is arguably the finest example in Northern Ireland of a skew brick-arched bridge. The structure has required no upgrading during its 125 years of service, a testament to its builders' skill.

The abutments are of squared random rubble blackstone with ashlar sandstone quoins. A chamfered ashlar sandstone string course runs around the quoins and through the arch at spring level. The arch itself is of semi-elliptical profile with ashlar vee-jointed sandstone voussoirs, measuring 9.21 metres (30 feet) perpendicularly across the abutments (10.90 metres on the skew) and 41.5 metres (136 feet) long. The soffit is of highly skewed machined brick, while the spandrels are of ashlar sandstone.

Tapered buttresses rise from each side of the arch, constructed of vermiculated and margined sandstone blocks laid to courses. They extend above track level as ashlar terminal piers supporting two-bar metal railings, possibly replacements. An ashlar sandstone string course runs over the arch crown and around the base of the terminal piers. At each end are curved wing walls of squared blackstone rubble with dressed sandstone copings, terminating in square piers surmounted by pyramidal sandstone caps. The north-west and south-east wing walls are partly bridged by reinforced-concrete slabs to facilitate foot access along the track.

Behind the north-west wing wall is a squared random rubble bank retaining wall with vertical stone copings; a similar retaining wall extends beyond the south-east wing wall. A 1.5-metre-wide towpath runs through the bridge along its north abutment. Although long disused as a towpath, it remains in use as a recreational footpath between Moira Station and Broadwater, furnished with a three-bar timber and metal safety railing. The towpath is faced with random rubble blackstone edged with dressed stone blocks. A similar berm runs along the south abutment. Together they restrict the width of the still-watered canal to 6.28 metres (20 feet 6 inches) as it passes through the bridge. A sacrificial metal post is embedded in the towpath at each end of the bridge to protect the quoins from towrope damage.

The bridge lies on the Lisburn-Lurgan section of the Belfast-Dublin railway, opened by the Ulster Railway Company in August 1839 (Lisburn section) and reaching Lurgan by November 1841. The present masonry bridge replaced an earlier structure, probably of timber or metal girder construction, that appears on the 1858 Ordnance Survey six-inch map. In 1876, the Ulster Railway Company became part of the Great Northern Railway Company (Ireland). The Ulster Transport Authority took over operations in 1958, followed by Northern Ireland Railways in 1968, and now Translink. The bridge has group value with other listed structures on this railway line and is of considerable industrial archaeological interest.