Leven Viaduct
Leven Viaduct | |
|---|---|
Leven Viaduct | |
| Coordinates | 54°11′56″N 3°02′34″W / 54.1989°N 3.0429°W |
| OS grid reference | SD322786 |
| Carries | Cumbrian Coast line |
| Crosses | River Leven |
| ELR no. | CBC1 34 |
| Characteristics | |
| Total length | 23 chains (1,500 ft; 460 m) |
| Height | 26 feet (7.9 m) (to rails above low water) |
| No. of spans | 49 |
| Rail characteristics | |
| No. of tracks | 2 |
| Track gauge | 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge |
| History | |
| Designer | James Brunlees |
| Construction start | 1 April 1856 |
| Construction end | 14 June 1857 |
| Construction cost | £18,604 (single line) |
| Opened | August 1857 |
| Rebuilt | 1863 1884 2006 |
| Location | |
| References | |
Leven Viaduct is a railway bridge which carries the Furness Line over the River Leven in Cumbria, England. The viaduct was opened as a single track structure as part of the Ulverstone and Lancaster Railway in August 1857. It was widened to two tracks in 1863, and rebuilt in the 1880s, 1925 and again in 2006. Originally, the viaduct had a telescopic section at the western end which could retract to let shipping through; this was fixed in place in 1866 after an Act of Parliament allowed the Furness Railway Company to transfer shipping to the Ulverston Canal, and tranship goods further upstream using railway wagons. An accident on the viaduct in 1903 in which a train was blown over, necessitated the installation of an anenometer to measure wind speeds, and if needed, the viaduct would be closed to traffic.