Loopline Bridge Droichead na Lúblíne | |
|---|---|
 Loopline bridge at night (prior to removal of advertising hoardings), withButt Bridge in the foreground, andCustom House in the background | |
| Coordinates | 53°20′53″N6°15′17″W / 53.3480°N 6.2546°W /53.3480; -6.2546 |
| Carries | Railway |
| Crosses | River Liffey and quays |
| Locale | Dublin, Ireland |
| Other name | Liffey Viaduct |
| Maintained by | Iarnród Éireann |
| Preceded by | Butt Bridge |
| Followed by | Talbot Memorial Bridge |
| Characteristics | |
| Material | Cast iron, wrought iron, limestone (viaduct piers) |
| History | |
| Designer | John Chaloner Smith |
| Construction end | 1891 |
| Location | |
 Interactive map of Loopline Bridge | |
TheLoopline Bridge (or theLiffey Viaduct,Irish:Droichead na Lúblíne[1]) is a railway bridge spanning theRiver Liffey and several streets inDublin, Ireland. It joins rail services from south of Dublin toConnolly Station andlines north.
Designed byJohn Chaloner Smith (engineer to theDublin, Wicklow and Wexford Railway), the bridge was built between 1889 and 1891.[2] It consists ofwrought iron lattice girders on a double row of piers with five spans. Theviaduct is approximately six metres above street level and supports two railway tracks.[3]
During original planning and construction (in the late 19th century) the project was subject to much opposition and controversy,[4] because the structure blocks the view down river toThe Custom House. 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) and Queenstown (Cobh).[3]
100 years later, the visage of the bridge remains the subject of some debate,[5] and has been described by historian Richard Killeen as "one of the city's true eyesores".[6] Already arguably less attractive[7] than some of Dublin's other bridges, the façades of the Loopline have been used byIarnród Éireann for billboard advertising. As of 2006[update], the company has scaled back the bridge's use for this purpose[8] to reduce impact on the city skyline, following input fromAn Bord Pleanála andDublin City Council.[9]
A prominent feature in the city landscape since 1891, the Loopline Bridge appears in one of the most famous literary works associated withDublin:
A skiff, a crumpled throwaway, Elijah is coming, rode lightly down the Liffey, under Loopline bridge, shooting the rapids where water chafed around the bridgepiers, sailing eastward past hulls and anchorchains, between the Customhouse old dock and George’s quay.
