Trent Viaducts are two adjacent parallel railway bridges which carry the Midland Main Line over the

River Trent The Trent is the Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, third-longest river in the United Kingdom. Its Source (river or stream), source is in Staffordshire, on the southern edge of Biddulph Moor. It flows through and drains the North Midland ...

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

Nottinghamshire Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated Notts.) is a landlocked county in the East Midlands region of England, bordering South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. The traditi ...

. Originally a single bridge, it was built by the engineer

Charles Blacker Vignoles Charles Blacker Vignoles (31 May 1793 – 17 November 1875) was an influential British railway engineer, and eponym of the Vignoles rail. Early life He was born at Woodbrook, County Wexford, Ireland in May 1793 the son of Capt. Ch ...

for the

Midland Counties Railway The Midland Counties' Railway (MCR) was a railway company in the United Kingdom which existed between 1839 and 1844, connecting Nottingham, Leicester and Derby with Rugby and thence, via the London and Birmingham Railway, to London. The MCR s ...

in 1839. The Viaduct was rebuilt between 1891 and 1893 when a second crossing was added by the

Midland Railway The Midland Railway (MR) was a railway company in the United Kingdom from 1844. The Midland was one of the largest railway companies in Britain in the early 20th century, and the largest employer in Derby, where it had its headquarters. It am ...

to carry the high-level goods line from Toton. The rebuilding included the removal of the cast iron spans supplied by the Butterley Company. On the Midland Railway System Maps of 1918, the bridges are identified as bridges 27 and 27a. Just south of the viaducts are twin tunnels through Red Hill.

References

Railway viaducts in Derbyshire Railway viaducts in Nottinghamshire Bridges across the River Trent Bridges completed in 1839 {{UK-bridge-struct-stub