Dutton Railway Viaduct - Dutton, UK
Posted by: 
dtrebilc
N 53° 17.001 W 002° 37.718
30U E 524759 N 5903855
This 20 arch stone bridge over the River Weaver Navigation was built in 1836 for the Grand Junction Railway.
Waymark Code: WMVW88
Location: North West England, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 06/02/2017
Views: 1
Completion of the River Weaver Navigation in 1734 provided a navigable route for transporting salt from Winsford, through Northwich, to Frodsham, where the Weaver joins the River Mersey.
The bridge is a Historic England Grade II* Listed Building.
"Railway viaduct: Completed 1836 by Joseph Locke and George Stephenson for the Grand Junction Railway Co. Rock faced red sandstone with ashlar dressings. 20 deep segmental arches of 40 voussoirs with dropped ashlar keystone on concavely battered piers of 16 cyclopean courses on plain plinths. Simple battered pilasters on each rectangular plinth on each outer cornice. Projecting copings. Cutwaters to the piers of 2 arches, now dry, to the River Weaver before re-alignment of the Weaver Navigation. 1960's steel pylons for electrification. Dutton viaduct is the longest on the Grand Junction Railway and an early example of a major railway viaduct, but more assured than the earliest, the Sankey Viaduct on the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, by the same engineers 3 years earlier. It was completed at a cost of £54,440, the contractor being McIntosh of London. As no life was lost or serious injury incurred during construction, its completion was greeted by a civic celebration. Hewitt H J 1972 The Building of the Railways in Cheshire."
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