The Loch nan Uamh 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 ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

that carries the

West Highland Line The West Highland Line ( gd, Rathad Iarainn nan Eilean - "Iron Road to the Isles") is a railway line linking the ports of Mallaig and Oban in the Scottish Highlands to Glasgow in Central Scotland. The line was voted the top rail journey in th ...

History

Design

The viaduct has eight concrete arches of span, four each side of a large central concrete pylon. The reason for this design is not known. The viaduct crosses the Allt a' Mhama, or Mama Burn, just before it flows into

Loch nan Uamh The Sound of Arisaig Lochaber, Scotland, separates the Arisaig peninsula to the north from the Moidart peninsula to the south. At the eastern, landward end, the sound is divided by Ardnish into two sea lochs. Loch nan Uamh lies to the north of Ard ...

, a sea loch to the north of the Ardnish peninsula. Immediately to the north of the viaduct is a short tunnel.

Entombed horse

In 1987 Roland Paxton, from

Heriot-Watt University Heriot-Watt University ( gd, Oilthigh Heriot-Watt) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. It was established in 1821 as the School of Arts of Edinburgh, the world's first mechanics' institute, and subsequently granted univ ...

, investigated the legend that a horse had fallen into a pier during construction of

Glenfinnan Viaduct The Glenfinnan Viaduct is a railway viaduct on the West Highland Line in Glenfinnan, Inverness-shire, Scotland, built from 1897 to 1901. Located at the top of Loch Shiel in the West Scottish Highlands, the viaduct overlooks the Glenfinnan Monum ...

in 1898 or 1899. However, after inserting a fisheye camera into boreholes made into the only two piers large enough to accommodate a horse, no animal remains were found. In 1997, on the basis of local hearsay, Paxton investigated Loch nan Uamh viaduct using the same method but found only rubble as well. In 2001, he returned to Loch nan Uamh with

radar Radar is a detection system that uses radio waves to determine the distance (''ranging''), angle, and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, w ...

equipment and found the remains of a horse and cart within the viaduct's central pylon.

References

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External links

{{commons category Railway bridges in Scotland Category B listed buildings in Highland (council area) Listed bridges in Scotland Lochaber Bridges completed in 1901 Bridges in Highland (council area)