Ouseburn Viaduct carries the

East Coast Main Line The East Coast Main Line (ECML) is a electrified railway between London and Edinburgh via Peterborough, Doncaster, York, Darlington, Durham and Newcastle. The line is a key transport artery on the eastern side of Great Britain running broa ...

over the

Ouseburn Valley The Ouseburn Valley is the name of the valley of the Ouseburn, a small tributary of the River Tyne, running southwards through the east of Newcastle upon Tyne, England. The name refers particularly to the urbanised lower valley, spanned by thr ...

through the East End of

Newcastle-upon-Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne ( RP: , ), or simply Newcastle, is a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. The city is located on the River Tyne's northern bank and forms the largest part of the Tyneside built-up area. Newcastle is als ...

. Designed by architects

John and Benjamin Green John and Benjamin Green were a father and son who worked in partnership as architects in North East England during the early nineteenth century. John, the father was a civil engineer as well as an architect. Although they did carry out some commi ...

, it was originally built in the late 1830s for the

Newcastle and North Shields Railway The Newcastle & North Shields Railway opened in June 1839 from a temporary terminus in Carliol Square in Newcastle upon Tyne to North Shields. The railway was absorbed by the Newcastle & Berwick Railway in November 1844. The Newcastle & Berwick ...

. It is a

Grade II* listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

. The viaduct is long and high with five arches (plus two approach arches) each of span. When originally built the viaducts were made of laminated timber construction on the Wiebeking system, whereby each arch was made from multiple layers of timbers held together by trenails and supported on stone pillars. The viaduct was rebuilt in iron between 1867 and 1869 by the

Weardale Iron & Coal Company The Weardale Iron and Coal Company, established in the 1840s, produced iron and steel at Tow Law and Tudhoe in County Durham in England, where it also owned collieries. History The founder of the company, Charles Attwood (1791–1875), was born in ...

to the designs of engineer

Thomas Elliot Harrison Thomas Elliot Harrison (4 April 1808 – 20 March 1888) was a British engineer. Born in Fulham, London, he was raised in the north east of England, where his father was a promoter of early railway companies; after an apprenticeship under William ...

for the North Eastern Railway Company, doubling its width to accommodate four tracks but preserving the bridge's original appearance. It now carries the East Coast Main Line. It is one of three high level bridges in close proximity making the same crossing, with the Byker Viaduct carrying the

Tyne and Wear Metro The Tyne and Wear Metro is an overground and underground light rail rapid transit system serving Newcastle upon Tyne, Gateshead, North Tyneside, South Tyneside, and the City of Sunderland (together forming Tyne and Wear). The network opened in ...

and then the Byker road bridge both to the south.

References

{{WikidataCoord, display=title, name = Ouseburn Viaduct Railway bridges in Tyne and Wear Grade II* listed buildings in Tyne and Wear Buildings and structures in Newcastle upon Tyne John and Benjamin Green buildings and structures Grade II* listed railway bridges and viaducts

See also

References