Hownes Gill Viaduct, Co. Durham - May 2008

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BigLoada

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Visited with Sausage who told me about this. This is an awesome viaduct designed by Thomas Bouch and built in 1858. It has a beautiful slender design, standing at 150 feet high and 750 feet long.

Once part of the Stanhope-Tyne line it is now used as a cycle track and is part of the Waskerley Way. Hopefully Sausage has some more pictures, I only took a few.


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Note wrong spelling:

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Great day out but it was a hell of a climb to the bottom of the valley.
 
I've still got the suntan from that day. I've known of this site for many years but only recently managed to see it properly. The bridge just wasn't what I had expected though. Very high with a beautiful slender design. On with some pics:

The trackbed now concreted over and turned into a bridleway.

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Another view looking up at the arches.

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A view looking directly up inside an arch.

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The bridge is a masterpiece of engineering (not to mention bricklaying!) and is well worth a look. I'm sure it also forms part of a sustrans sea to sea cycle route too.
 

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Indeed an impressive structure, remember cycling up here from Durham many times about 10 years ago.
Thomas Bouch is usually remembered only for the Tay Bridge disaster, but in fact he built a lot of very good bridges and viaducts, like this one. Apparently, there are more than 3 million bricks contained in Hownes Gill viaduct!!
It's quite an interesting structure too - if you mocch about in the undergrowth right in the bottom of the valey, you will see that each arch is complemented at the bottom - so the pillars are in the form of giant ovals, if you see what I mean. Usually each pillar is just resting on its own pilings/foundations.
 
I mainly knew Thomas Bouch mostly for the ill-fated first Tay Bridge.

Before then he helped design train ferries for taking trains accross the Forth & Tay before the bridges were built.

You can still see the remains of a landing stage near the south end of the Forth Bridge.
 
Very nice viaduct there,

Although Thomas Bouch is credited for the viaduct, He asked Robert Stephenson to comment on the design. Stephenson suggested the buttressing that you see to the side of each of the piers, the cut-outs central to the piers and inverted brick arches below ground level. These arches are are similar to those at the top but help to brace the bottom of the piers so they do not splay.
 
Thanks for the comments, and cheers Blondini Gang and Northern Exposure for that info. I didn't know Robert Stephenson had any input on this. Interesting as I am currently reading a book on the history of the Scottish lighthouses built by his family.
 
Northern Exposure said:
Try this book,

The link is just limited preview but I managed to buy a copy for 7 quid. There are some fascinating places in there and some potential explores too.
Click to expand...


Looking at the preview there are a few odd ones in there I didn't expect such as Stakeford bridge where I used to live. I will have to ask for a copy for my birthday I reckon. Always love these kind of books!
 
Really nice photos. :)

I'm loving the sign for people who are contemplating jumping.
Although not a funny subject.
 

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