Dutton Viaduct

Dutton Viaduct
Dutton Viaduct
	Dutton Viaduct
Coordinates	53°16′59″N2°37′43″W / 53.28294°N 2.628576°W Coordinates: 53°16′59″N2°37′43″W / 53.28294°N 2.628576°W
Carries	West Coast Main Line
Crosses	River Weaver
Locale	Dutton, Cheshire
Heritage status	Grade II* listed
Characteristics
Total length	500 yards (457 m)
Clearance below	60 feet (18 m)
History
Opened	July 1837
Location

Last updated March 14, 2023

Dutton Viaduct is on the West Coast Main Line where it crosses the River Weaver and the Weaver Navigation between the villages of Dutton and Acton Bridge in Cheshire, England (grid reference SJ581764 ), not far from Dutton Horse Bridge. It is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a Grade II* listed building.

The viaduct was constructed during 1836, and was complete on 9 December of that year. It was the longest viaduct on the Grand Junction Railway (GJR).^[3] The viaduct was built at a cost of £54,440 (equivalent to £5,450,000 in 2021).^[4] The engineers were Joseph Locke and George Stephenson,^[1] and William Mackenzie was its contractor.^[5]

Since entering use in July 1837, Dutton Viaduct has remained in regular use. During its operating life, it has been subject to change; during the 1960s, the line was electrified overhead lines and supporting metalwork were installed across its length and its line speed was increased to 125 miles per hour (200 km/h) in the West Coast Main Line route modernisation programme. It became a listed structure in the early 1990s.^[1]

History

Background

Dutton Viaduct was constructed for the Grand Junction Railway (GJR), one of the world's first major railways.^[3] Joseph Locke and George Stephenson designed the viaduct, which crossed the River Weaver. The route, surveyed by Locke, was relatively free of major engineering challenges, save for the section crossing the Weaver.^[6]

The contractor for its construction was William Mackenzie.^[1] Dutton Viaduct was the first project to which Thomas Brassey submitted a tender. Brassey lost out to Mackenzie because his estimated cost was roughly £5,000 higher.^[5] Brassey was appointed as contractor for the smaller Penkridge Viaduct.^[6]

Dutton Viaduct is 60 feet (18 m) high and 500 yards (457 m) long,^[2] and comprises 20 deep segmental arches.^[1] Primarily built of red sandstone, it has been estimated that roughly 700,000 cubic feet (20,000 m³) of stone was used. The stonework features ashlar dressings, projecting copings, and cutaways on two of the arches that span the river. The pillars of the viaduct have splayed bases, which give the structure a greater degree of stability.^[1]

The viaduct cost of £54,440 (equivalent to £5,450,000 in 2021).^[4]^[1] Construction took place during 1836 and completed on 9 December of that year. It was noted at the time that there were no recorded losses of life or serious injury during its construction. Its completion was marked by a civic celebration.^[1] On 4 July 1837, the first GJR trains carried passengers across the viaduct before regular operations started.^[3]

Operational history

By the 1880s, the Dutton Viaduct was regarded as perhaps one of George Stephenson's finest viaducts.^[7] Victorian authors praised its aesthetic qualities.^[8]

During the 1960s, the West Coast Mainline was electrified; to facilitate the installation of overhead lines, steel pylons were installed across the viaduct. During the early 1990s, Dutton Viaduct was listed under the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 for its special architectural or historic interest.^[1] During the 2000s, work completed for the West Coast Main Line route modernisation permitted the line speed across the viaduct to be raised to 125 miles per hour (200 km/h) and the refuges across the structure for use by trackside workers fell out of use.^[9]

During September 2017, a 'near miss' incident was recorded when line-side contractors carrying out a structural inspection crossed the tracks between the obsolete refuges in breach of the red zone regulations. Because of limited trackside clearance, Dutton Viaduct was designated a 'red zone prohibited area' during the previous decade, meaning that workers are not permitted on the line when trains are running unless separated by a permanent fence.^[9]

In early 2020, Network Rail applied for permission for repairs to compromised stonework in one of the arches; the remedial work was described as being sympathetic to the bridge's historic construction and designed to blend in with the original materials used.^[10]

Related Research Articles

The River Dane is a tributary of the River Weaver that originates in the Peak District area of England. The name of the river is probably from the Old Welsh dafn, meaning a "drop or trickle", implying a slow-moving river.

The River Weaver is a river, navigable in its lower reaches, running in a curving route anti-clockwise across west Cheshire, northern England. Improvements to the river to make it navigable were authorised in 1720 and the work, which included eleven locks, was completed in 1732. An unusual clause in the enabling Act of Parliament stipulated that profits should be given to the County of Cheshire for the improvement of roads and bridges, but the navigation was not initially profitable, and it was 1775 before the first payments were made. Trade continued to rise, and by 1845, over £500,000 had been given to the county.

Joseph Locke FRSA was a notable English civil engineer of the nineteenth century, particularly associated with railway projects. Locke ranked alongside Robert Stephenson and Isambard Kingdom Brunel as one of the major pioneers of railway development.

The Manchester and Birmingham Railway was built between Manchester and Crewe and opened in stages from 1840. Between Crewe and Birmingham, trains were worked by the Grand Junction Railway. The M&BR was merged into the London and North Western Railway in 1846.

Wicker Arches form a 660-yard (600 m) long railway viaduct across the Don Valley in the City of Sheffield, England. They take their name from the thoroughfare Wicker, which passes through the main arch of the viaduct and was, until the completion of the Sheffield Parkway, the main route eastwards from the city to the M1. It is a Grade II* listed structure.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thomas Brassey</span> British engineering contractor

Thomas Brassey was an English civil engineering contractor and manufacturer of building materials who was responsible for building much of the world's railways in the 19th century. By 1847, he had built about one-third of the railways in Britain, and by time of his death in 1870 he had built one in every twenty miles of railway in the world. This included three-quarters of the lines in France, major lines in many other European countries and in Canada, Australia, South America and India. He also built the structures associated with those railways, including docks, bridges, viaducts, stations, tunnels and drainage works.

The Runcorn Railway Bridge, Ethelfleda Bridge or Britannia Bridge crosses the River Mersey at Runcorn Gap between Runcorn and Widnes in Cheshire, England. It is alongside the Silver Jubilee Bridge. The bridge is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a Grade II* Listed building.

Richmond Railway Bridge in Richmond, south-west London, crosses the River Thames immediately upstream of Twickenham Bridge. It carries National Rail services operated by South Western Railway (SWR) on the Waterloo to Reading Line, and lies between Richmond and St. Margarets stations. The bridge was amongst the first railway crossings of the Thames.

The Sankey Viaduct is a railway viaduct in North West England. It is a designated Grade I listed building and has been described as being "the earliest major railway viaduct in the world".

The Ouse Valley Viaduct carries the London-Brighton Railway Line over the River Ouse in Sussex. It is located to the north of Haywards Heath and the south of Balcombe. Known for its ornate design, the structure has been described as "probably the most elegant viaduct in Britain."

Barentin Viaduct is a railway viaduct that crosses the Austreberthe River on the Paris–Le Havre line near to the town of Barentin, Normandy, France, about 12 miles (19 km) from Rouen. It was constructed of brick with 27 arches, 100 feet (30 m) high with a total length of 600 yards (549 m). The British engineer was Joseph Locke and the contractors were William Mackenzie and Thomas Brassey.

Penkridge Viaduct is a railway viaduct on the West Coast Main Line where it crosses the River Penk and Levedale Road near the village of Penkridge, Staffordshire, England. It is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II listed building.

Monkwearmouth Railway Bridge is a railway bridge built in 1879, crossing the River Wear at Sunderland and Monkwearmouth. The bridge lies adjacent to and upstream of the Wearmouth Road Bridge.

The Paris–Le Havre railway is an important 228-kilometre long railway line, that connects Paris to the northwestern port city Le Havre via Rouen. Among the first railway lines in France, the section from Paris to Rouen opened on 9 May 1843, followed by the section from Rouen to Le Havre that opened on 22 March 1847.

The River Irwell Railway Bridge was built for the Liverpool & Manchester Railway (L&MR), the world's first passenger railway which used only steam locomotives and operated as a scheduled service, near Water Street in Manchester, England. The stone railway bridge, built in 1830 by George Stephenson, was part of Liverpool Road railway station. The bridge was designated a Grade I listed building on 20 June 1988.

Dutton Horse Bridge is a timber twin-span footbridge across part of the Weaver navigation, near the villages of Acton Bridge and Dutton in Cheshire, England. The bridge is located at SJ 583 767, between the Dutton Locks and Dutton Viaduct. It carries the towpath across a subsidiary channel used to regulate the water level, at the point where it rejoins the main river.

Acton Bridge is a civil parish in Cheshire West and Chester, England. It is mainly rural and contains the village of Acton Bridge. The parish is traversed by the River Weaver and Weaver Navigation in an east–west direction, the West Coast Main Line in a north–south direction, and the A49 road runs from northwest to southeast. It contains nine buildings that are recorded in the National Heritage List for England as designated listed buildings. Two of these are listed at Grade II*, and the other seven at Grade II. Most of the buildings are houses or farm buildings, but the list also includes a railway viaduct, a lock on the Weaver Navigation, and a guidepost.

George Heald was a civil engineer active at the beginning of the 19th century, notable for his role in the building of railways that formed part of the Grand Junction Railway, the Lancaster and Carlisle Railway, the Caledonian Railway and the North Midland Railway. Nowadays he is largely forgotten but to his contemporaries and those that followed immediately afterwards, he was one of the key engineers of the early railway age being listed alongside Brunel, Stephenson, Locke and Cubitt in George Drysdale Dempsey's book, the Practical Railway Engineer. He was a colleague and friend of Robert Stephenson and also worked with other notable railway engineers such as Joseph Locke and Thomas Brassey.

The Nene Viaduct is a railway bridge immediately south of Peterborough railway station in Cambridgeshire, Eastern England. It was built to carry the Great Northern Railway across the River Nene. It is a Grade II* listed building.

Wolverton Viaduct is a railway bridge carrying the West Coast Main Line over the River Great Ouse to the north of Wolverton, part of the City of Milton Keynes, in south-eastern England. Built in 1837 for the London and Birmingham Railway under the supervision of Robert Stephenson, it is one of the largest and most notable structures on the route and is a grade II listed building.

References

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Historic England. "Dutton Railway Viaduct (Grade II*) (1216523)". National Heritage List for England . Retrieved 10 March 2022.
1 2 3 The Grand Junction Railway, The Wolverhampton Exhibition of Commerce and Services, archived from the original on 10 July 2008, retrieved 25 November 2007
1 2 3 4 Webster, Norman W. (1972), Britain's First Trunk Line, Adams & Dart, p. 86, ISBN 978-0239001054
1 2 UK Retail Price Index inflation figures are based on data from Clark, Gregory (2017). "The Annual RPI and Average Earnings for Britain, 1209 to Present (New Series)". MeasuringWorth. Retrieved 11 June 2022.
1 2 Walker, Charles (1969), Thomas Brassey, Railway Builder, London: Frederick Muller, p. 14, ISBN 0-584-10305-0
1 2 Rolt, L. T. C. "George and Robert Stephenson: The Railway Revolution." Amberley Publishing, 2009. p. 22.
↑ Frederick Smeeton Williams. "Our Iron Roads: Their History, Construction and Administration." Bemrose, 1885. p. 187.
↑ Bradshaw. "Bradshaw‛s shilling handbook of Great Britain and Ireland: Section III." W. J. Adams, Bradshaw & Blacklock, 1860. p. 33.
1 2 "Near miss between a train and line-side workers on Dutton Viaduct, Cheshire, 18 September 2017". Rail Accident Investigation Branch. 4 December 2017. Retrieved 7 March 2018.
↑ Okell, Nathan (16 April 2020). "Plans submitted to repair damage to Grade II-listed Dutton Viaduct". Northwich Guardian. Retrieved 10 March 2022.

External links

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[hereng-1] 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Historic England. "Dutton Railway Viaduct (Grade II*) (1216523)". National Heritage List for England . Retrieved 10 March 2022.

[localhist-2] 1 2 3 The Grand Junction Railway, The Wolverhampton Exhibition of Commerce and Services, archived from the original on 10 July 2008, retrieved 25 November 2007

[Webster1972-3] 1 2 3 4 Webster, Norman W. (1972), Britain's First Trunk Line, Adams & Dart, p. 86, ISBN 978-0239001054

[inflation-UK-4] 1 2 UK Retail Price Index inflation figures are based on data from Clark, Gregory (2017). "The Annual RPI and Average Earnings for Britain, 1209 to Present (New Series)". MeasuringWorth. Retrieved 11 June 2022.

[walker_14-5] 1 2 Walker, Charles (1969), Thomas Brassey, Railway Builder, London: Frederick Muller, p. 14, ISBN 0-584-10305-0

[rolt_22-6] 1 2 Rolt, L. T. C. "George and Robert Stephenson: The Railway Revolution." Amberley Publishing, 2009. p. 22.

[7] Frederick Smeeton Williams. "Our Iron Roads: Their History, Construction and Administration." Bemrose, 1885. p. 187.

[8] Bradshaw. "Bradshaw‛s shilling handbook of Great Britain and Ireland: Section III." W. J. Adams, Bradshaw & Blacklock, 1860. p. 33.

[accident2017-9] 1 2 "Near miss between a train and line-side workers on Dutton Viaduct, Cheshire, 18 September 2017". Rail Accident Investigation Branch. 4 December 2017. Retrieved 7 March 2018.

[10] Okell, Nathan (16 April 2020). "Plans submitted to repair damage to Grade II-listed Dutton Viaduct". Northwich Guardian. Retrieved 10 March 2022.

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