Glenfinnan Viaduct
| Glenfinnan Viaduct | |
| Inverness-shire | |
|---|---|
 The Glenfinnan Viaduct | |
| Location | |
| Type: | Railway viaduct |
| Carrying: | West Highland Line |
| Crossing: | River Finnan |
| Location | |
| Location: | 56°52’35"N, 5°25’55"W |
| Structure | |
| Main span: | 50 feet |
| Type: | Railway viaduct |
| History | |
| Built 1897-1901 | |
| Information | |
The Glenfinnan Viaduct is a remarkable, curved railway viaduct on the West Highland Line in Glenfinnan, Inverness-shire. Located at the top of Loch Shiel in the Highlands, the viaduct overlooks the Glenfinnan Monument and the waters of Loch Shiel.
Construction
The Glenfinnan Viaduct was built to carry the West Highland Railway across the difficult terrain of Glen Finnan, and over the River Finnan. Construction was begun in 1898, and it was opened in 1901. It was, however, complete enough by October 1898 to be used to transport materials across the valley.[1] It was built at a cost of £18 904.
A long-established legend attached to the Glenfinnan Viaduct was that a horse had fallen into one of the piers during construction in 1898 or 1899.[2][3] In 1987, Professor Roland Paxton failed to find evidence of a horse at Glenfinnan using a fisheye camera inserted into boreholes in the only two piers large enough to accommodate a horse.[3] In 1997, on the basis of local hearsay, he investigated the Loch nan Uamh Viaduct by the same method but found the piers to be full of rubble.[2][3] Using scanning technology in 2001, the remains of the horse and cart were found at Loch nan Uamh, within the large central pylon.[4]
Design
The viaduct is built from mass concrete, and has 21 semicircular spans of 50 feet.[5] It is the longest concrete railway bridge in the Highlands, at 416 yards, and one of the longest in Britain. It crosses the River Finnan at a height of 100 feet.[5]
The West Highland Line it carries is single track, and the viaduct is 18 feet wide between the parapets.[5] The viaduct is built on a curve of 792 feet.[6][7]
The concrete used in the Glenfinnan Viaduct is mass concrete, which unlike reinforced concrete does not contain any metal reinforcement.[8] It is formed by pouring concrete, typically using fine aggregate, into formwork, resulting in a material very strong in compression but weak in tension.[8][9]
Railway services
The West Highland Line connects Fort William and Mallaig, and was a crucial artery for the local fishing industry and the highlands economy in general.
The line is used by passenger trains between Glasgow Queen Street and Mallaig, usually diesel multiple units. Additionally in the summer the heritage Jacobite steam train operates along the line. It is a popular tourist event in the area, and the viaduct is one of the major attractions of the line.
Depiction
Glenfinnan Viaduct has been used as a location in several films and television series, including:
- Ring of Bright Water
- Charlotte Gray
- Monarch of the Glen (television series)
- Stone of Destiny
- Charlie und Louise (German film)
- Harry Potter: in four of the films
The Glenfinnan Viaduct features on some Bank of Scotland banknotes: the 2007 series depicts different bridges in Scotland as examples of engineering, and Glenfinnan Viaduct appears on the £10 note.[10]
Outside links
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("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Glenfinnan Viaduct) |
References
- ↑ Chartered Civil Engineer. Institution of Civil Engineers. 1956. p. 8. http://books.google.com/books?id=X_IRAQAAMAAJ.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Jim Shipway". The Herald. 23 August 2013. http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-35045158.html. Retrieved 1 January 2015.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 "The Horse in the Viaduct - a tale of Victorian engineering". moidart.org.uk. http://www.moidart.org.uk/justoutside/horseinviaduct/horseinviaduct.htm. Retrieved 1 January 2015.
- ↑ CANMORE (RCAHMS) record of Loch Nan Uamh Viaduct
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 CANMORE (RCAHMS) record of Glenfinnan Railway Viaduct
- ↑ Glenfinnan Railway Viaduct over River Finnan – Historic Environment Scotland
- ↑ Thomas, John; Turnock, David (1993). The North of Scotland. A Regional History of the Railways of Great Britain Vol. 15 (2nd ed.). Pan Books. p. 278. ISBN 0-330-02479-5.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Historic Concrete in Scotland Part 1: History and Development. Historic Scotland. ISBN 978-1-84917-119-9. http://conservation.historic-scotland.gov.uk/historic-concrete-short-guide.pdf.
- ↑ Practical Building Conservation: Concrete. Ashgate Publishing. 2012. p. 6. ISBN 978-0-7546-4565-8. http://books.google.com/books?id=cWBAR0rR_HoC&pg=PA6.
- ↑ Current Banknotes: Bank of Scotland - The Committee of Scottish Clearing Bankers
- Haigh, Phil (27 August – 9 September 1997). 'Concrete Bob's' Scottish masterpiece. EMAP Apex Publications. OCLC 49953699.
- Thomas, John (1971). The West Highland Railway. Pan Books. ISBN 0-330-02479-5.