The Rakewood Viaduct carries the

M62 motorway The M62 is a west–east trans-Pennine motorway in Northern England, connecting Liverpool and Hull via Manchester, Bradford, Leeds and Wakefield; of the route is shared with the M60 orbital motorway around Manchester. The road is part of th ...

over Rakewood Valley and

Longden End Brook Longden End Brook is a watercourse in Greater Manchester. It rises near Windy Hill, and flows down Rakewood Valley and underneath the M62 motorway at Rakewood Viaduct, before arriving at Hollingworth Lake Hollingworth Lake is a reservoir a ...

between junctions 21 and 22 at

Littleborough, Greater Manchester Littleborough ( ) is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale, Greater Manchester, England, in the upper Roch Valley by the foothills of the South Pennines, northeast of Rochdale and northeast of Manchester; Milnrow and the M62 motorw ...

, England. The viaduct is long and above the valley floor. It was built in 1966 by Reed & Mallik and opened to motorway traffic in October 1971. It has a sister bridge, the Gathurst Viaduct in

Wigan Wigan ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, on the River Douglas. The town is midway between the two cities of Manchester, to the south-east, and Liverpool, to the south-west. Bolton lies to the north-east and Warrington t ...

, which carries the

M6 motorway The M6 motorway is the longest motorway in the United Kingdom. It is located entirely within England, running for just over from the Midlands to the border with Scotland. It begins at Junction 19 of the M1 and the western end of the A14 at ...

over the

Leeds & Liverpool Canal The Leeds and Liverpool Canal is a canal in Northern England, linking the cities of Leeds and Liverpool. Over a distance of , crossing the Pennines, and including 91 locks on the main line. The Leeds and Liverpool Canal has several small bran ...

, the Manchester-Southport line and the River Douglas and was constructed before the Rakewood Viaduct. The steelwork deck was subcontracted to Robert Watson Steelwork of

Bolton Bolton (, locally ) is a large town in Greater Manchester in North West England, formerly a part of Lancashire. A former mill town, Bolton has been a production centre for textiles since Flemish weavers settled in the area in the 14th ...

. Due to the height of the bridge and the surrounding hillside exposure, it is often subject to high speed cross winds.

References

*The Weighvers Seaport by A W Colligan in association with George Kelsall () Bridges in Greater Manchester Bridges completed in 1971 Buildings and structures in the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale Littleborough, Greater Manchester Motorway bridges in England M62 motorway Viaducts in England 1971 establishments in England {{GreaterManchester-struct-stub