The Seven Arches Bridge is a historic bridge in

Newport, County Mayo Newport (), historically known as Ballyveaghan and for many years also known as Newport-Pratt, is a small town in the barony of Burrishoole, County Mayo, Ireland. The population was 626 in 2016. It is located on the west coast of Ireland, along ...

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 around 1892, the bridge is a seven span squared red sandstone structure with limestone detailing over the Black Oak River/

Newport River The Newport River is a small river in North Carolina that runs approximately twelve miles (twenty kilometers) southeast through the town of Newport with its mouth opening into Bogue Sound, between Morehead City and Beaufort. It is popular for fla ...

. It carried the Achill branch of the

Midland Great Western Railway The Midland Great Western Railway (MGWR) was the third largest Irish gauge () railway company in Ireland. It was incorporated in 1845 and absorbed into the Great Southern Railways in 1924. At its peak the MGWR had a network of , making it Irela ...

line, with the last train running on this line in the autumn of 1937. It was recently restored as part of the

Great Western Greenway The Great Western Greenway () is a greenway rail trail in County Mayo, Ireland. It is long and begins in Westport and ends in Achill, passing through the towns of Newport and Mulranny as it runs along the coast of Clew Bay. It is an off-r ...

, the longest off-road cycling & walking route in Ireland. The bridge is listed as number 112 on the

Record of Protected Structures Conservation in the Republic of Ireland is overseen by a number of statutory and non-governmental agencies, including those with responsibility for conservation of the built environment and conservation of the natural environment in Ireland. Con ...

for

County Mayo County Mayo (; ga, Contae Mhaigh Eo, meaning "Plain of the Taxus baccata, yew trees") is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. In the West Region, Ireland, West of Ireland, in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Conn ...

Technical Details

The single track viaduct has an overall length of and width . The seven segmental arches have a span, with a rise of . The arch rings are . The bridge piers are thick with pointed cutwaters. The cost of the viaduct was over £7,000. The rail line over the viaduct was not opened until 1894 pending completion of a nearby tunnel.

References

External links

{{coord, 53.8843, -9.5449, type:landmark_region:IE, display=title Railway bridges in the Republic of Ireland Buildings and structures in County Mayo Rail trail bridges