Jamestown Viaduct
| Jamestown Viaduct | |
| Fife | |
|---|---|
 'Great Marquess' crossing Jamestown Viaduct | |
| Location | |
| Carrying: | Edinburgh to Aberdeen Line |
| Location | |
| Structure | |
| Main span: | 110 feet |
| Material: | Steel |
| History | |
| Built 1887-1890 | |
| Information | |
The Jamestown Viaduct in Fife carries the Edinburgh to Aberdeen railway line over the low coastal ground, the B981 and a local rail line, as part of the northern approach to the Forth Bridge, which spans the Firth of Forth to the south. The viaduct crosses the hamlet of Jamestown and the village of North Queensferry, whence the Forth Bridge begins.
Contents
History
The viaduct was built constructed between 1887 and 1890, and listed as a Grade B listed building in 2004.[1]
In 2005, the viaduct was strengthened during an eight-day closure of the railway.[2] A hundred and twenty tons of steel and 21,000 cubic feet of high strength concrete were used to add a reinforced concrete slab underneath the track, in order to improve the load-carrying capacity to Network Rail's standards. The work was worth around £5 million. During the period of closure, 20,000 man-hours were worked.[2]
Design
The viaduct has four main steel girder spans, supported by three sandstone piers.[3] As well as the four steel spans, there is a stone arch at each end of the viaduct.[1] The steel spans are 110 feet long, and are at a skew of 70°[1] The spans consist of twin truss girders sitting on the piers, and on top of the truss cross-girders supporting steel deck plates, with a ballasted track.[1]
The viaduct carries the line crossing the Forth Bridge, from Edinburgh to Aberdeen and the north of Scotland, and carries a significant volume of both passenger and freight rail traffic, which previously included transporting coal to Longannet Power Station[1] prior to its closure in 2016.
The viaduct overleaps the B981 public road and the former branch railway to North Queensferry and Rosyth.[3] It runs close to and nearly parallel to the A90 road, but the viaduct has a slight curve to the east.
Outside links
 |
("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Jamestown Viaduct) |
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Roberts, C.; Bell, G.; Hanson, A.; Henderson, D. (2007). "Jamestown Viaduct, UK: Strengthening of an early steel viaduct". Proceedings of the ICE - Bridge Engineering 160 (2): 57–63. doi:10.1680/bren.2007.160.2.57. http://www.icevirtuallibrary.com/content/article/10.1680/bren.2007.160.2.57.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Bridge closure causes no problems". BBC News. 25 July 2005. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/4715351.stm. Retrieved 9 September 2014.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 CANMORE (RCAHMS) record of Inverkeithing, Jamestown Viaduct
