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Craigavon Bridge | |
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| Coordinates | 54°59′26″N 7°19′04″W / 54.9906°N 7.3178°W |
| Carries | A2 |
| Crosses | River Foyle |
| Locale | Derry |
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The Craigavon Bridge is one of three bridges in Derry, Northern Ireland. It crosses the River Foyle further south than the Foyle Bridge and Peace Bridge. 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 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 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.[citation needed] On 3 July 1968, as part of a series of protests against housing conditions in Derry, the Derry Housing Action Committee (DHAC) held a sit-down protest on the newly opened second deck of the Craigavon Bridge.[1]
Hands Across the Divide, a pair of bronze statues forming a sculpture, produced by Derry sculptor Maurice Harron, are situated at the west end of bridge in Carlisle Square.[2]
- ^ "A Chronology of the Conflict - 1968". Conflict Archive on the Internet (CAIN). Retrieved 11 July 2009.
- ^ "Hands Across the Divide". Conflict Archive on the Internet (CAIN). Retrieved 23 August 2007.[permanent dead link]