The Craigavon Bridge is one of three

bridge A bridge is a structure built to Span (engineering), span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or railway) without blocking the path underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, whi ...

s in

Derry Derry, officially Londonderry, is the second-largest City status in the United Kingdom, city in Northern Ireland, and the fifth-largest on the island of Ireland. Located in County Londonderry, the city now covers both banks of the River Fo ...

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

. It crosses the

River Foyle The River Foyle () is a river in west Ulster in the northwest of the island of Ireland, which flows from the confluence of the rivers Finn and Mourne at the towns of Lifford in County Donegal, Republic of Ireland, and Strabane in County Ty ...

further south than the

Foyle Bridge The Foyle Bridge is a bridge in Derry, Northern Ireland. The central span of the bridge is the longest on the island of Ireland, at 234 metres (767 ft), and the whole suspended bridge structure including the approach spans is 866 metres lon ...

and

Peace Bridge The Peace Bridge is an international bridge over the Niagara River between Canada and the United States, located just north of the river's source at the east end of Lake Erie about upriver of Niagara Falls. It connects Buffalo, New York, in ...

. It is one of only a few double-decker road bridges in Europe. It was named after Lord Craigavon, the first

Prime Minister of Northern Ireland The prime minister of Northern Ireland was the head of the Government of Northern Ireland (1921–1972), Government of Northern Ireland between 1921 and 1972. No such office was provided for in the Government of Ireland Act 1920; however, the L ...

. The present bridge was designed by the City Architect, Matthew A. Robinson. Construction began in the late 1920s and was finished in 1933. The lower deck of the bridge originally carried a

railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...

line for freight wagons, but that was replaced by a road in 1968. At each end, a silhouetted mural of a railway station stands to mark the former railway. On 3 July 1968, as part of a series of protests against housing conditions in Derry, the

Derry Housing Action Committee The Derry Housing Action Committee (DHAC), was an organisation formed in 1968 in Derry, Northern Ireland to protest about housing conditions and provision. The DHAC was formed in February 1968 by two socialists and four tenants in response to the ...

(DHAC) held a sit-down protest on the newly opened second deck of the Craigavon Bridge. '' Hands Across the Divide'', a pair of bronze statues forming a sculpture, produced by Derry sculptor

Maurice Harron Maurice Harron (born 1946) is an artist, educator and public sculptor from Derry, Northern Ireland. He was educated at St Columb's College and at the University of Ulster, Ulster College of Art and Design in Belfast. He has completed dozens o ...

, are situated at the west end of bridge in Carlisle Square.

History

Craigavon Bridge is one of three bridges to be built in the area. The first bridge over the River Foyle was a wooden one, assembled in the United States and transported to

. It was built from 1789–1791, and sited between Bridge Street and Fountain Hill, about 90 metres north of the present bridge. The structure included a drawbridge because the inhabitants of

Strabane Strabane (; ) is a town in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. Strabane had a population of 13,507 at the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 census. This article contains quotations from this source, which is available under th Open Government Li ...

had navigational rights on the river. In 1863, the steel Carlisle Bridge was erected, a little further upstream, almost where Craigavon Bridge is today, to replace the old wooden bridge.

References

{{coord, 54, 59, 26, N, 7, 19, 4, W, type:landmark, display=title Bridges in Northern Ireland Buildings and structures in Derry (city) Bridges completed in 1933 Derry (city) Double-decker bridges