Railway Bridge, Lambeg Road, Lambeg, Lisburn, Co Antrim

A skew arched stone bridge carries the main Belfast-Dublin railway over Lambeg Road, a short distance south of Lambeg Station. The bridge is constructed of Triassic sandstone except for its soffit. The abutments and wing walls are of randomly sized sandstone blocks, but the remainder of the bridge is entirely of ashlar. The arch spans a two-lane road without footpaths. It is of three-centred (‘semi-elliptical’) profile and has vee-jointed quoins and voussoirs; the latter splay out and double as spandrels. The soffit is of brick, the actual bricks being laid to a helicoidal configuration to take account of the skewnes of the arch. A string course runs around the quoins and through the arch at spring level. Headroom warning triangles (13ft 0in and 3.9m) are affixed to the arch crowns on both faces. Alternate voussoirs are also painted yellow and black to give advance warning of the restricted headroom. Tapered buttresses run up each side of the arch. Above the arch is a shallow platband, over which is a projecting string course; both these courses continue around the tops of the buttresses. Above the string course is a parapet coped with sandstone and terminating in advanced rectangular piers, also capped with sandstone. The parapet is surmounted by a modern two-bar galvanized metal handrail. There are curved wing walls at both ends of both faces, of random Triassic sandstone blocks and subsequently heightened in brick