Lambley Viaduct: Difference between revisions

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==References==
==References==
{{reflist}}
{{reflist}}
{{South Tyne bridges}}
[[File:South Tyne Lambley Viaduct 6173.JPG|left|200px|Lambley Viaduct]]
[[File:South Tyne Lambley Viaduct 6173.JPG|left|200px|Lambley Viaduct]]

Latest revision as of 20:16, 23 April 2022

Lambley Viaduct
Northumberland

Lambley Viaduct
Location
Carrying: Cycle route and footpath
Crossing: River South Tyne
Location
Grid reference: NY675584
Location: 54°55’8"N, 2°30’31"W
Structure
Length: 853 feet
Material: Stone
History
Built 1852
Information

Lambley Viaduct is a stone bridge across the River South Tyne at Lambley in Northumberland, built to carry the Haltwhistle to Alston railway line over the dale of the River South Tyne.

The Viaduct is eight hundred and sixty feet long, crossing the South Tyne as a series of elegant stone arches.

The railway is closed, but the Lambley Viaduct is preserved as a heritage monument, remaining open to pedestrians though one end of the viaduct has been fenced off.

The viaduct is a Grade II listed structure.[1]

History

A train crossing the viaduct in September 1973

Lambley Viaduct was built to carry the Haltwhistle to Alston railway, which was opened in 1852 to haul coal and lead from the Alston mines

The viaduct was probably designed by George Barclay Bruce,[1] a Victorian engineer who was involved in the Alston line before leaving for India to pioneer railway construction there. It is a particularly elegant example of Victorian engineering: the river is crossed by nine arches each 56 feet wide which support a deck at least 108 feet above the river[1] but, as it carried a single rail track, only 11 feet wide. The piers to the arches are built of massive rough-faced stones each weighing up to 1,100 lb, with similar-sized stones in ashlar to the main arch voussoirs. The spandrels and piers to the 20-foot wide approach arches are built of coursed rubble masonry.[2]

The railway closed in 1976, and the viaduct was allowed to decay.[3] In 1991 the British Rail Property Board agreed to repair the viaduct and hand it over to the North Pennine Heritage Trust which would maintain it in the future; however the Trust went into administration in 2011.[4]

One end of the viaduct has been fenced off, after the path was diverted in 2004 to pass further away from Lambley railway station, which is now a private house.[2]

Outside links

("Wikimedia Commons" has material
about Lambley Viaduct)

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 National Heritage List 1042918: Labey Viaduct (Grade II listing)
  2. 2.0 2.1 "Lambley Viaduct". http://freespace.virgin.net/elaine.rigby/lambley.htm. 
  3. "River South Tyne - Lambley Viaduct". Bridges on the Tyne. http://www.bridgesonthetyne.co.uk/lambrw.html. 
  4. "North Pennines Heritage Trust collapses". Newcastle upon Tyne: Trinity Mirror. 2011-09-10. http://www.thejournal.co.uk/news/north-east-news/north-pennines-heritage-trust-collapses-4423229. "The trust, with 400 members and a team of volunteers, also owns Alston Arches and the Lambley Viaduct at Haltwhistle." 


Bridges and crossings on the River South Tyne
Parson Shields Bridge Eals Bridge Eals Footbridge Lambley Viaduct Lambley Footbridge Diamond Oak Bridge Featherstone Gauging Station
Lambley Viaduct
Lambley Viaduct