Design Stone arch Designer John Benjamin Macneill Address Newry BT35 6LF, UK Province Ulster Bridge type Arch bridge Architect John Benjamin Macneill | No. of spans 18 Construction begin 1849 Opened 1852 Location Bessbrook Carry Belfast–Dublin line | |
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Carries Dublin–Belfast railway line Locale Bessbrook, Northern Ireland Similar Derry House, MacNeill's Egyptian Arch, Moyry Castle, Newry railway station, Newry Town Hall | ||
Craigmore viaduct
The Craigmore Viaduct (Irish: an Tarbhealach Craig Mór, meaning "the great rock trans-way") is a railway bridge near Bessbrook, County Armagh, Northern Ireland, locally known as the 18 Arches. (OS Grid ref: Jo628). Near Newry railway station.
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Steam train at craigmore viaduct
History
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 126 ft, making Craigmore the tallest viaduct in Ireland. It is around a quarter of a mile long and was constructed from granite stone blocks from the nearby Goraghwood quarry near Goraghwood station, which for many years supplied ballast to the Dublin & Belfast Junction Railway’s lines. The Dublin-Belfast railway line crosses the bridge.
From 1885 to 1948, the Bessbrook and Newry Tramway ran under the viaduct.
The Troubles
On 2 March 1989, a Provisional Irish Republican Army bomb damaged Craigmore Viaduct, it exploding just four minutes before a passenger train from Dublin was due to leave nearby Newry Station. A clearance operation had to be mounted and the railway line was closed and not reopened until 8 March 1989.