Broadbottom Viaduct (also known as Etherow or Mottram Viaduct) is a railway

viaduct A viaduct is a specific type of bridge that consists of a series of arches, piers or columns supporting a long elevated railway or road. Typically a viaduct connects two points of roughly equal elevation, allowing direct overpass across a wide v ...

that spans the

River Etherow The River Etherow is a river in northern England, and a tributary of the River Goyt. Although now passing through South Yorkshire, Derbyshire and Greater Manchester, it historically formed the ancient county boundary between Cheshire and Derby ...

between

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands, England. It includes much of the Peak District National Park, the southern end of the Pennine range of hills and part of the National Forest. It borders Greater Manchester to the nor ...

and

Greater Manchester Greater Manchester is a metropolitan county and combined authority, combined authority area in North West England, with a population of 2.8 million; comprising ten metropolitan boroughs: City of Manchester, Manchester, City of Salford, Salford ...

in England. Originally of wooden construction supported by stone piers, the timber was replaced first with wrought iron box girders, less than 20 years after the viaduct's opening, later followed by steel trusses and more supporting piers.

History and design

Broadbottom Viaduct is one of two similar viaducts apart (the other being the much longer

Dinting Viaduct Dinting Viaduct (also known as Dinting Arches) 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 betw ...

) on the

Glossop Line The Glossop line is a railway line connecting the city of Manchester with the towns of Hadfield and Glossop in Derbyshire, England. Passenger services on the line are operated by Northern Trains. The line is the surviving section west of the ...

, which connects several villages in north-west Derbyshire with

Manchester Piccadilly station Manchester Piccadilly is the principal railway station in Manchester, England. Opened as Store Street in 1842, it was renamed Manchester London Road in 1847 and became Manchester Piccadilly in 1960. Located to the south-east of Manchester city ...

. Both viaducts are significant for their height and the distance between their columns. Broadbottom is high, long, and has three main spans, which carry the railway over a gorge formed by the

. Built by

Joseph Locke Joseph Locke FRSA (9 August 1805 – 18 September 1860) 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 ...

and A. S. Jee for the

Sheffield, Ashton-under-Lyne and Manchester Railway The Sheffield, Ashton-under-Lyne and Manchester Railway was an early British railway company which opened in stages between 1841 and 1845 between Sheffield and Manchester via Ashton-under-Lyne. The Peak District formed a formidable barrier, and ...

, the foundation stone of Broadbottom Viaduct was laid by John Chapman on 17 February 1842. Then on 10 December that same year trains ran from Godley to Broadbottom. The viaduct itself was originally of a laminated timber construction with three arches (of unequal lengths) supported on

piers Piers may refer to: * Pier, a raised structure over a body of water * Pier (architecture), an architectural support * Piers (name), a given name and surname (including lists of people with the name) * Piers baronets, two titles, in the baronetages ...

of locally quarried stone. Each arch span had three parallel ribs, of which the middle rib was considerably heavier than the other two. The timberwork deteriorated, and was replaced with hollow

wrought iron Wrought iron is an iron alloy with a very low carbon content (less than 0.08%) in contrast to that of cast iron (2.1% to 4%). It is a semi-fused mass of iron with fibrous slag Inclusion (mineral), inclusions (up to 2% by weight), which give it a ...

box girders which were fabricated on-site by contractors

William Fairbairn & Sons William Fairbairn and Sons, was an engineering works in Manchester, England. History William Fairbairn opened an iron foundry in 1816 and was joined the following year by a Mr. Lillie, and the firm became known as Fairbairn and Lillie Engine Mak ...

while the viaduct continued in use. The girders were carried onto the bridge on

bogie A bogie ( ) (in some senses called a truck in North American English) is a chassis or framework that carries a wheelset, attached to a vehicle—a modular subassembly of wheels and axles. Bogies take various forms in various modes of transp ...

s before being lowered onto the existing supporting piers. The work was completed by the end of 1859 after a little over six months; similar work carried out on Dinting Viaduct was completed in 1860, having had minimal effect on train services. Railway historian Gordon Biddle described the wrought iron construction as "less majestic" than the original, but "still impressive". At some point, the wrought iron box girders were supplemented with riveted steel truss girders. Further remedial work was carried out in 1919; by then, the weight of modern trains necessitated the strengthening of Broadbottom and Dinting viaducts. Three red brick intermediate piers, of which one is in the river, were built to better support the girders.

References

{{Buildings and structures in Tameside Railway viaducts in Derbyshire Railway viaducts in Greater Manchester Bridges completed in 1842 Grade II listed bridges in Greater Manchester Grade II listed buildings in Derbyshire 1842 establishments in England

History and design

See also

References