Craigmore Viaduct

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The Craigmore Viaduct at sunset, from the East side
The Craigmore Viaduct at sunset, from the East side
The Craigmore Viaduct at sunset, from the East side
The Craigmore Viaduct at sunset, from the East side
The Craigmore Viaduct at sunset, from the West side
The Craigmore Viaduct at sunset, from the West side

The Craigmore Viaduct is a railway bridge near Bessbrook, County Armagh, Northern Ireland, locally known as the 18 Arches. (OS Grid ref: Jo628)

The bridge was designed by John Benjamin Macneill, an eminent Irish civil engineer, with construction beginning in 1849 for the Dublin and Belfast Junction Railway. The bridge was formally opened in 1852. It spans the valley of Camlough River. The viaduct consists of 18 arches of 60 ft span, the highest being 126ft, making Craigmore the highest viaduct in Ireland. It is around a quarter of a mile long and was constructed from granite stone blocks from the nearby Goraghwood quarry, which for many years supplied ballast to the Dublin & Belfast Junction Railway’s lines. The Dublin-Belfast railway line crosses the bridge.[1][2]

[edit] The Troubles

On 2 March 1989, a Provisional Irish Republican Army bomb damaged Craigmore viaduct, going off just four minutes before a passenger train from Dublin was due to leave the nearby Newry station. A clearance operation had to be mounted and the railway line was closed and not reopened until 8 March 1989.[3]

[edit] References

  1. ^ Craigmore Viaduct. Newry and Mourne Tourism. Retrieved on 2007-08-24.
  2. ^ Niall V. Torpey. Irish Railway Bridges-Part 2. Irish Railway Record Society. Retrieved on 2007-08-24.
  3. ^ Dublin-Belfast Railway Line Bombing. Dáil Éireann Parliamentary Debates (1989-04-19). Retrieved on 2007-08-24.


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