The Craigavon Bridge is one of three bridge

Bridge

A bridge is a structure built to span physical obstacles such as a body of water, valley, or road, for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle...

s in Derry

Derry

Derry or Londonderry is the second-biggest city in Northern Ireland and the fourth-biggest city on the island of Ireland. The name Derry is an anglicisation of the Irish name Doire or Doire Cholmcille meaning "oak-wood of Colmcille"...

, Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...

. It crosses the River Foyle

River Foyle

The River Foyle is a river in west Ulster in the northwest 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 Tyrone, Northern Ireland. From here it flows to the City of Derry, where it...

 further south than the Foyle Bridge

Foyle Bridge

The Foyle Bridge is a bridge in Derry in Northern Ireland. The central cantilever span of the bridge is the longest in Ireland at 234 metres , and the whole suspended bridge structure including the approach spans is also the longest in Ireland at 866 metres .It crosses the River Foyle to the north...

 and Peace Bridge

Peace Bridge (Foyle)

The Peace Bridge is a cycle and footbridge bridge across the River Foyle in Derry, Northern Ireland, which opened on 25 June 2011. It is the newest of three bridges in the city, the others being the Craigavon Bridge and the Foyle Bridge. It was opened to the public by EU Commissioner for Regional...

. It is one of only a few double-decker road bridges in Europe

Europe

Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

. It was named after Lord Craigavon, the first Prime Minister of Northern Ireland

Prime Minister of Northern Ireland

The Prime Minister of Northern Ireland was the de facto head of the Government of Northern Ireland. No such office was provided for in the Government of Ireland Act 1920. However the Lord Lieutenant, as with Governors-General in other Westminster Systems such as in Canada, chose to appoint someone...

.
The present bridge began construction in the late 1920s and was finished in 1933. The lower deck of the bridge was originally a railway line, but this was replaced by a road in 1968. On 3 July 1968, as part of a series of protests against housing conditions in Derry, the Derry Housing Action Committee

Derry Housing Action Committee

The Derry Housing Action Committee , was an organisation formed in 1968 in Derry, Northern Ireland to protest about housing conditions and provision....

 (DHAC) held a sit-down protest on the newly opened second deck of the Craigavon Bridge.

A pair of bronze statues forming a sculpture entitled Hands Across the Divide are situated at the west end of Craigavon Bridge in Carlisle Square and were produced by Derry sculptor, Maurice Harron

Maurice Harron

Maurice Harron is a sculptor, born in 1946 in Derry, Northern Ireland, where he grew up. He studied sculpture at the Ulster College of Art and Design in Belfast....

.

Refurbishment

Between October 1999 and August 2000, the Roads Service of the Department for Regional Development

Department for Regional Development

The Department for Regional Development is a devolved Northern Ireland government department in the Northern Ireland Executive...

, in Phase I of a refurbishment project, concentrated on the refurbishment of the upper deck of the bridge to provide increased safety and to prolong the service life of the bridge. This included concrete and steelwork repairs, re-waterproofing of the deck to protect the steelwork from corrosion, resurfacing of both carriageway and footways. Later phases II and III concentrated on refurbishment of the lower deck and painting of the bridge. The total cost of refurbishing Craigavon Bridge was £4·2 million.

History

Craigavon Bridge is the third bridge to be built in the area. The first bridge over the River Foyle was a wooden one built in 1790. It was assembled in America

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 and transported to Derry to be positioned in the Bridge Street area about 90 metres north of the present bridge. It was built from 1789-1791 between Bridge Street and Fountain Hill. The structure allowed for a drawbridge as the inhabitants of Strabane

Strabane

Strabane , historically spelt Straban,is a town in west County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. It contains the headquarters of Strabane District Council....

had navigational rights to the river.

In 1863, a steel bridge (Carlisle Bridge) was erected a little further upstream, almost where Craigavon Bridge is today, to replace the old wooden structure.