The Kilnap Viaduct is an eight-arch railway viaduct located in

Cork City Cork ( , from , meaning 'marsh') is the second largest city in Ireland and third largest city by population on the island of Ireland. It is located in the south-west of Ireland, in the province of Munster. Following an extension to the city' ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

. Built in 1845, it carried the

Great Southern & Western Railway The Great Southern and Western Railway (GS&WR) was an Irish gauge () railway company in Ireland from 1844 until 1924. The GS&WR grew by building lines and making a series of takeovers, until in the late 19th and early 20th centuries it was the l ...

line to Cork over the valley of Glennamought River and Mallow Road. The viaduct is listed as a protected structure by the Cork City Council.

Technical details

The eight-arch railway viaduct features rock-faced ashlar limestone piers with a cut stone impost supporting squared coursed limestone spandrels with dressed limestone string course. It has rock-faced limestone voussoirs leading to round-headed arches, ashlar limestone vaults to barrels and a squared coursed limestone parapet with cut stone coping. The viaduct was built by

William Dargan William Dargan (28 February 1799 – 7 February 1867) was arguably the most important Irish engineer of the 19th century and certainly the most important figure in railway construction. Dargan designed and built Ireland's first railway lin ...

. As built, it was 420 ft long and 90 ft high.

References

{{coord, 51.9268, -8.4875, type:landmark_region:IE, display=title Railway bridges in the Republic of Ireland Bridges completed in 1845 Bridges in County Cork