Ribblehead Viaduct
| Ribblehead Viaduct | |
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Ribblehead Viaduct
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| Coordinates | 54°12′38″N 2°22′13″W / 54.210436°N 2.370231°WCoordinates: 54°12′38″N 2°22′13″W / 54.210436°N 2.370231°W |
| Crosses | Batty Moss |
| Owner | Network Rail |
| Maintained by | Network Rail |
| Characteristics | |
| Total length | 440 yards (400 m) |
| Height | 104 feet (32 m) |
| No. of spans | 24 |
| History | |
| Designer | John Sydney Crossley |
| Construction start | 12 October 1870 |
| Opened | 3 August 1875 |
The Ribblehead Viaduct or Batty Moss Viaduct carries the Settle-Carlisle Railway across Batty Moss in the valley of the River Ribble at Ribblehead, in North Yorkshire, England. The viaduct, built by the Midland Railway, is 28 miles (45 km) north-west of Skipton and 26 miles (42 km) south-east of Kendal. It is a Grade II* listed structure.
The land underneath and around the viaduct is a scheduled ancient monument. The remains of the construction camp and navvy settlements (Batty Wife Hole, Sebastopol, and Belgravia) are located there.
The viaduct was designed by engineer John Sydney Crossley. The first stone was laid on 12 October 1870 and the last in 1874. One thousand navvies built the viaduct and established shanty towns on the moors for themselves and their families. They named the towns after Crimean War victories, well-to-do districts of London and biblical names. There were smallpox epidemics and deaths from industrial accidents. Around one hundred navvies were killed during its construction. There are around 200 burials of men, women, and children in the graveyard at Chapel-le-Dale dating from the time of its construction. The church has a memorial to the railway workers.
The line over the bridge was opened to goods traffic on 3 August 1875, but passenger trains did not commence running until 1 May 1876, following approval of the works by Colonel F. H. Rich, an Inspecting Officer of the Board of Trade.
In 1964, several brand new Humber cars landed on the ground after being blown off their wagons while being carried over the viaduct on a freight train.
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Wikipedia