When was Digswell Viaduct built?
The Digswell Viaduct, located between Welwyn Garden City and Digswell, celebrated its 170th birthday this week. The 475m long, 30m high viaduct was built between 1848 and 1850 and officially opened August 6 1850.
How tall is Digswell Viaduct?
100 ft
It was the longest and tallest viaduct on the Great Northern Railway’s route. The viaduct is around 1,560 feet (475 m) long and comprises forty arches of 30 ft (9 m) span, and it is 100 ft (30 m) high from ground level to trackbed.
Who built Digswell Viaduct?
By Llinos Thomas The Welwyn Viaduct, also called Digswell Viaduct, carries the East Coast Line Railway over the River Mimram. Designed by William Cubbit, it was originally opened by Queen Victoria, 6 August 1850 who was said to be so frightened of the height she refused to travel across the viaduct.
How many bricks are in Digswell Viaduct?
The Viaduct stretches 519 yards across the Mimram valley with a maximum height 100 feet. Metal gantries added around 1980 as part of the British Rail electrification programme. HISTORY: The Viaduct was built at a cost of o69,397, and constructed of 13 million bricks.
Who built Welwyn viaduct?
Sir William Cubitt
Welwyn Railway Viaduct, Bessemer Road, Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire. This railway viaduct was built for the Great Northern Railway. It was built in 1848-50 by Sir William Cubitt and Joseph Cubitt.
When was Welwyn viaduct built?
It was built in 1848-50 by Sir William Cubitt and Joseph Cubitt. It has 40 arches. It cost £69,397 and is made of 13 million bricks. It was opened on the 7th of August 1850.
What is difference between aqueduct and viaduct?
As nouns the difference between aqueduct and viaduct is that aqueduct is an artificial channel that is constructed to convey water from one location to another while viaduct is a bridge with several spans that carries road or rail traffic over a valley or other obstacles.”
Why do viaducts exist?
Wherever trains go, they occasionally need to pass through areas with deep valleys or gorges or busy city streets. Engineers solved this problem long ago by inventing a unique structure that would carry traffic across these obstacles.
Are viaducts Roman?
The term viaduct is derived from the Latin via meaning “road”, and ducere meaning “to lead”. It is a 19th-century derivation from an analogy with ancient Roman aqueducts. Like the Roman aqueducts, many early viaducts comprised a series of arches of roughly equal length.
What is the Digswell Viaduct?
The Digswell Viaduct, also called Welwyn Viaduct, is a railway viaduct that carries the East Coast Main Line over the River Mimram in the county of Hertfordshire in England. A prominent local landmark, it is located between Welwyn Garden City and Digswell.
What’s happening at Digswell Park Road?
Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council has approved the issuing of a permanent Article 4 Direction which will remove permitted development rights on land at Digswell Park Road by the Digswell Viaduct.
What is the length of the viaduct?
The viaduct is around 1,560 feet (475 m) long and comprises forty arches of 30 ft (9 m) span, and it is 100 ft (30 m) high from ground level to trackbed.
What is the East Coast Main Line viaduct?
The viaduct carries the East Coast Main Line, which has to narrow from four tracks to two to cross the viaduct, making it a bottleneck restraining capacity over this strategic transport route.