The Loopline Bridge (or the ''Liffey Viaduct'') is a railway bridge spanning the

River Liffey The River Liffey ( Irish: ''An Life'', historically ''An Ruirthe(a)ch'') is a river in eastern Ireland that ultimately flows through the centre of Dublin to its mouth within Dublin Bay. Its major tributaries include the River Dodder, the Riv ...

and several streets in

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 c ...

, Ireland. It joins rail services from south of Dublin to

Connolly Station Connolly station ( ga, Stáisiún Uí Chonghaile) or Dublin Connolly is one of the busiest railway stations in Dublin and Ireland, and is a focal point in the Irish route network. On the North side of the River Liffey, it provides InterCi ...

and

lines Line most often refers to: * Line (geometry), object with zero thickness and curvature that stretches to infinity * Telephone line, a single-user circuit on a telephone communication system Line, lines, The Line, or LINE may also refer to: Arts ...

north. Designed by

John Chaloner Smith John Chaloner Smith (19 August 1827 – 13 March 1895) was an Irish civil engineer, remembered as collector of and writer on British mezzotints. Life Smith was born in Dublin in 1827. His father was a proctor of the ecclesiastical courts, and ...

(engineer to the

Dublin, Wicklow and Wexford Railway The Dublin and South Eastern Railway (DSER), often referred to as the Slow and Easy, was an Irish gauge () railway in Ireland from 1846 to 1925. It carried 4,626,226 passengers in 1911. It was the fourth largest railway operation in Ireland oper ...

), the bridge was built between 1889 and 1891. It consists of

wrought iron Wrought iron is an iron alloy with a very low carbon content (less than 0.08%) in contrast to that of cast iron (2.1% to 4%). It is a semi-fused mass of iron with fibrous slag inclusions (up to 2% by weight), which give it a wood-like "grain" ...

lattice girders on a double row of piers with five spans. The viaduct is approximately six metres above street level and supports two railway tracks. During original planning and construction (in the late 19th century) the project was subject to much opposition and controversy, because the structure blocks the view down river to

The Custom House The Custom House ( ga, Teach an Chustaim) is a neoclassical 18th century building in Dublin, Ireland which houses the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage. It is located on the north bank of the River Liffey, on Custom House Qua ...

. However, the bridge was deemed necessary as a rail link between north and south Dublin, and to facilitate the movement of transatlantic mail coming from Kingstown (

Dún Laoghaire Dún Laoghaire ( , ) is a suburban coastal town in Dublin in Ireland. It is the administrative centre of Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown. The town was built following the 1816 legislation that allowed the building of a major port to serve Dubli ...

) and Queenstown ( Cobh). 100 years later, the visage of the bridge remains the subject of some debate, and has been described by historian Richard Killeen as "one of the city's true eyesores". Already arguably less attractive than some of Dublin's other bridges, the façades of the Loopline have been used by Iarnród Éireann for billboard advertising. , the company has scaled back the bridge's use for this purpose to reduce impact on the city skyline, following input from

An Bord Pleanála (; meaning "The Planning Board"; ABP) is an independent, statutory, quasi-judicial body that decides on appeals from planning decisions made by local authorities in the Republic of Ireland. As of 2007, An Bord Pleanála directly decided major ...

and

Dublin City Council Dublin City Council ( ga, Comhairle Cathrach Bhaile Átha Cliath) is the authority responsible for local government in the city of Dublin in Ireland. As a city council, it is governed by the Local Government Act 2001. Until 2001, the council was ...

. A prominent feature in the city landscape since 1891, the Loopline Bridge appears in one of the most famous literary works associated with

References

{{Dublin Liffey Bridges Railway bridges in the Republic of Ireland Bridges in Dublin (city) Bridges completed in 1891 1891 establishments in Ireland