Whalley Viaduct
River Calder, west of Whalley, Lancashire, UK
associated engineer
Terrence Wolfe Flanagan
date 1846 - 1850
UK era Victorian |
category Railway Viaduct |
reference SD726361
ICE reference number HEW 566
photo donation
The longest and largest railway viaduct in Lancashire, Whalley Viaduct's 48 brick arches stride across the valley of the River Calder, dominating the landscape.
The viaduct was built for the Bolton, Blackburn, Clitheroe & West Yorkshire Railway and it carries the line 21.3m above the river for a distance of 620m. Plain in appearance, the southern side of the arch nearest the remains of Whalley Abbey bears its only decorative treatment. Flanagan used some Gothic elements here to try to harmonise the structure with the ruins.
More than seven million bricks and 12,338 cubic metres of stone were used to construct the viaduct. Some 3,000 metres of timber was used for the arch centering, temporary platforms and the permanent foundation piles.
During construction, on 6th October 1849, two of the 41 arches then completed collapsed. Sadly, three men lost their lives.
Resident engineer: J. Withers
Main contractor: Nowell Hattersley & Shaw
Research: PD
bibliography
"The Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway" by J. Marshall, David and Charles, Newton Abbot, 1969, Vol 1
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