Sankey Viaduct | |
---|---|
Coordinates | 53°26′51″N2°39′03″W / 53.44745°N 2.65076°W |
OS grid reference | SJ5682394761 |
Carries | Liverpool and Manchester Railway |
Crosses | Sankey Brook (historic route of the Sankey Canal) |
Other name(s) | The Nine Arches |
Heritage status | Grade I |
ID number | 1075927 |
Characteristics | |
Material | Yellow sandstone and red brick |
Total length | 600 feet (180 m) |
Height | 70 feet (21 m) |
No. of spans | Nine |
Rail characteristics | |
No. of tracks | 2 |
Track gauge | Standard-gauge railway |
Electrified | 2015 |
History | |
Architect | George Stephenson |
Construction start | 1828 |
Construction cost | £45,000 |
Opened | 1830 |
Location | |
The Sankey Viaduct (locally known as the Nine Arches) is a railway viaduct in North West England. The majority of the viaduct is located within the borough of St Helens, Merseyside, with approximately a third to west of Sankey Brook being located within the borough of Warrington, Cheshire. is a designated Grade I listed building and has been described as being "the earliest major railway viaduct in the world". [1]
In 1826, the Liverpool and Manchester Railway Company (L&MR) was authorised to construct the world's first intercity railway. One obstacle on the selected 31-mile (50 km) route between Liverpool and Manchester was the Sankey Valley. The company's principal engineer, George Stephenson, designed the Sankey Viaduct for the double-track railway to traverse the valley and Sankey Canal with sufficient clearance for the masts and sails of the Mersey flats that used the canal. [2]
The viaduct was built between 1828 and 1830, although work on the structure did not finish until the middle of 1833. On 15 September 1830, the viaduct was opened along with the Liverpool & Manchester railway. During 2015, Network Rail installed overhead line equipment as part of a wider electrification programme.
In 1826, the Act for the Liverpool & Manchester Railway (L&MR), the world's first intercity railway, was passed by Parliament. [3] George Stephenson was the company's principal engineer for the 31-mile (50 km) route between Liverpool and Manchester. The route required crossing the Sankey valley west of Newton-le-Willows, about halfway along the line. [3]
The Sankey valley contained two obstacles, the Sankey Brook and the Sankey Canal that was constructed to link the St Helens coalfield to the River Mersey. The engineered waterway could be regarded as the first canal built in England since Roman times. [3]
To traverse the Sankey Valley, Stephenson had to devise a route for the railway to pass without obstructing barges on the canals and maintain gradients for steam locomotives using the route. [3] The Sankey Brook Navigation Company objected to the Liverpool & Manchester Railway's intended route and insisted that any structure across the valley must provide a minimum clearance of 60 feet (18 m) above the water to allow fully-rigged Mersey flats to pass underneath. [3]
Stephenson's solution was to construct an embankment on the west side of the valley, roughly 900 yards (820 m) long, and then cross the brook and the canal on a viaduct that met a smaller embankment on the eastern side. [3] Stephenson designed the viaduct in conjunction with Thomas Longridge Gooch, his chief draughtsman. Constructed from yellow sandstone and red brick, the viaduct is of nine round-headed arches carried on piers that incline sharply from the base towards the top. [1] Its form is similar to the traditional designs of canal aqueducts. [3]
Work commenced on the embankment for the western approach in June 1827. [3] The embankment was constructed of more than 100,000 tons of clay, marl and moss, which was compacted with brushwood. The clay was excavated from the sides of the valley. On completion, trees were planted to provide a natural camouflage for the structure. [3] During the first half of 1828, William Allcard (1809–61) was appointed resident engineer for the mid-section of the Liverpool & Manchester railway, which included the Sankey Viaduct and Kenyon cutting. [3]
During spring 1828, work commenced on piling for the viaduct's foundations, which was necessary because of the soft conditions of the ground. The splayed bases of the viaduct's piers are built on sandstone foundation slabs, which was quarried from the nearby Olive Mount Cutting. Each slab was founded on top of around 200 timber piles, which were between 20 and 30 feet (6.1 and 9.1 m) long. [3]
In summer 1829, the piers were completed and work began on the superstructure. [3] By February 1830, the parapet walls had been completed. The cost of the viaduct, which was known locally as the Nine Arches Viaduct, was between £45,200 and £46,000. [3] [4]
On 15 September 1830, the viaduct was opened with the Liverpool & Manchester railway. [3] Before its formal opening, a number of passengers had been transported across on special excursion trains. In July 1833, work on the structure included the addition of copings to the parapet walls. [3]
The viaduct stands between 60 and 70 feet (18 and 21 m) above Sankey Brook. It has nine semicircular arches of 50 feet (15 m) span, 25 feet (7.6 m) rise, and is of red brick with yellow sandstone facings. [3] The arches are supported on eight rectangular piers and abutments at either end of the structure. The curved wing walls of the abutments retain the ends of the embankments. [3] Projecting pilasters form rectangular cutwaters, which extend up the face of the piers to form part of the parapet walls. The width between the parapets is 25 feet (7.6 m). [3]
The retaining walls of the western embankment have been strengthened by the addition of stay bolts, which extend deep inside the embankment and bolt fixings set onto the faces of the retaining walls. Concrete has been applied to some of the vertical pilasters and areas of the masonry. [3]
During 1931, the Sankey Canal was abandoned north of the viaduct. In 1963, the last navigable section closed and the waterway was subsequently infilled; the canal beneath the viaduct was infilled during 2002. [3]
During February 1966, the viaduct received grade I listed building status, attributed to its "international significance being the earliest major railway viaduct in the world". [3] [5]
During the first half of 2015, Network Rail installed overhead line equipment for the line's electrification. [3]
The Sankey Viaduct is the scene of an 1852 murder in The Railway Viaduct (2006), a detective mystery novel by Keith Miles writing as Edward Marston. [6]
The River Mersey is a major river in North West England. Its name derives from Old English and means "boundary river", possibly referring to its having been a border between the ancient kingdoms of Mercia and Northumbria. For centuries it has formed part of the boundary between the historic counties of Lancashire and Cheshire.
The Liverpool and Manchester Railway (L&MR) was the first inter-city railway in the world. It opened on 15 September 1830 between the Lancashire towns of Liverpool and Manchester in England. It was also the first railway to rely exclusively on locomotives driven by steam power, with no horse-drawn traffic permitted at any time; the first to be entirely double track throughout its length; the first to have a true signalling system; the first to be fully timetabled; and the first to carry mail.
Newton-le-Willows is a market town in the Metropolitan Borough of St Helens, Merseyside, England. The population at the 2021 census was 24,642. Newton-le-Willows is on the eastern edge of St Helens, south of Wigan and north of Warrington, equidistant to Liverpool and Manchester.
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.
The Sankey Canal in North West England, initially known as the Sankey Brook Navigation and later the St Helens Canal, is a former industrial canal, which when opened in 1757 was England's first of the Industrial revolution, and the first modern canal.
Earlestown railway station is a railway station in Earlestown, Merseyside, England, and one of the few "triangular" stations in Britain.
The Liverpool and Bury Railway was formed by an act of Parliament in 1845 to link Liverpool and Bury via Kirkby, Wigan and Bolton, the line opening on 20 November 1848. The line became the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway's main line between Liverpool, Manchester and Yorkshire. Most of it is still open.
Francis Giles was an English canal engineer and surveyor who worked under John Rennie and later became a railway engineer.
The Silver Jubilee Bridge crosses the River Mersey and the Manchester Ship Canal at Runcorn Gap between Runcorn and Widnes in Halton, England. It is a through arch bridge with a main arch span of 361 yards. It was opened in 1961 as a replacement for the Widnes–Runcorn Transporter Bridge. In 1975–77 the carriageway was widened, after which the bridge was given its official name in honour of the Queen's Silver Jubilee. It carries the A533 road and a cantilevered footway. The bridge is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II listed building. The bridge was closed to vehicles for refurbishment upon the opening of the new Mersey Gateway Bridge, but reopened as a toll bridge in February 2021.
The St Helens and Runcorn Gap Railway was an early railway line owned by a company of the same name in Lancashire, England, which opened in 1833. It was later known as St Helens Railway. It ran originally from the town of St Helens to the area which would later develop into the town of Widnes. Branches were opened to Garston, Warrington and Rainford. The company was taken over by the London and North Western Railway in 1864. The line from St Helens to Widnes and the branch to Rainford are now closed, the latter terminating at the Pilkington Glass' Cowley Hill works siding near Gerard's Bridge, but part of the lines to Garston and to Warrington are still in operation.
The Wirral line is one of two commuter rail routes operated by Merseyrail and centred on Merseyside, England, the other being the Northern line.
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.
Rainhill railway station serves the village of Rainhill in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the electrified northern route of the Liverpool to Manchester Line, forming part of the Liverpool City Line. The station, and all trains serving it, are operated by Northern Trains on behalf of Merseytravel and are branded as Merseytravel services.
The Middlewich Branch of the Shropshire Union Canal is located in Cheshire, in the north west of England, and runs between Middlewich, where it joins the Trent and Mersey Canal, and Barbridge Junction, where it joins the main line of the Shropshire Union Canal. It is 10 miles (16 km) long, and was planned as part of the Chester Canal, which was authorised in 1772, but the company ran out of money, and construction did not begin until 1827. The Trent and Mersey insisted that there should be no direct connection at Middlewich, and instead built the short Wardle Canal to join the two, charging large compensation tolls for traffic passing along it.
Stockport Viaduct carries the West Coast Main Line across the valley of the River Mersey in Stockport, Greater Manchester, England. It is one of the largest brick structures in the United Kingdom and a major structure of the early railway age. It is immediately north of Stockport railway station.
The Lancashire Union Railway ran between Blackburn and St Helens in Lancashire, England. It was built primarily to carry goods between Blackburn and Garston Dock on the River Mersey, and also to serve collieries in the Wigan area. Most of the line has now been closed, except for the St Helens-to-Wigan section that forms part of the main line between Liverpool and the North.
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 19 June 1988.
Dinting Viaduct is a 19th-century railway viaduct in Glossopdale in Derbyshire, England, that carries the Glossop Line over a valley at the village of Dinting. It crosses the Glossop Brook and the A57 road between Manchester and Sheffield.
Chapel Milton Viaduct is a Grade II listed bifurcated railway viaduct on the Great Rocks Line at its junction with the Hope Valley Line, straddling the Black Brook valley in Chapel Milton, Derbyshire, England. The first section of the viaduct, built by the Midland Railway in 1867, diverges and curves to the west while the second, built in 1890, curves to the east as the line, coming up from the south, links up with the main line between Sheffield and Manchester.
Wolverton Viaduct is a railway bridge carrying the West Coast Main Line over the River Great Ouse to the north of Wolverton, part of Milton Keynes, in south-eastern England. Built in 1838 for the London and Birmingham Railway (L&BR) to the design of Robert Stephenson, it was the largest viaduct on the L&BR's route. It is in the centre of Wolverton Embankment, itself the largest on the line. It has six brick arches and covers a distance of 660 feet, reaching a maximum height of 57 feet above the river, and terminating in substantial abutments which contain decorative arches. The viaduct and embankment feature in drawings by John Cooke Bourne. Several contemporary commentators likened Stephenson's bridges to Roman aqueducts. Some modern engineers and railway historians have suggested that Wolverton Viaduct is not as innovative or impressive as some that followed but nonetheless praised its visual impact.
Pottgießer, Hans (1985). Eisenbahnbrücken aus zwei Jahrhunderten[Railway Bridges from Two Centuries]. Basel, Boston, Stuttgart: Birkhäuser. pp. 18–19. ISBN 3764316772.(in German)