Bridge, East of Ballyveaghbeg Rd, Ballymartin, Kilkeel, Newry, Co Down, BT34 4XJ

This is a small remnant of a contractors’ railway bridge built between 1923 and 1924, situated east of Ballyveaghbeg Road, Ballymartin, Kilkeel, County Down. The railway line was approximately 7.25 kilometers long and ran between Annalong and the Silent Valley reservoir, serving as a single track line of 4ft 8.5in gauge. It was used to transport materials and workers to the reservoir site from Annalong, with sea-borne materials like cement being off-loaded at the harbor and transferred to the railhead—now the location of Annalong Primary School. The railway was dismantled in 1933 upon the reservoir’s completion.

Three pairs of shuttered concrete piers are visible on the right bank of a tributary of the Mullagh River. These piers formerly supported a metal girder superstructure, which no longer exists. Two sets of piers stand approximately 2.6 meters (8 feet 6 inches) high, tapering from roughly 1.4 meters by 0.8 meters (4 feet 6 inches by 2 feet 6 inches) at the base to 0.8 meters (2 feet 6 inches) square at the top. A lower pair, near the river, stands about 0.5 meters (1 foot 9 inches) high. A single pier from a pair remains on the left bank. Threaded lugs are present on the tops of the piers. A short length of earthen bank runs along the top set of piers, accompanied by remains of a post and wire fence on one side. The structure is noted as derelict and of industrial archaeological interest.