Yarm Viaduct carries railway traffic above the town of
Yarm
Yarm, also referred to as Yarm-on-Tees, is a market town and civil parish in the Borough of Stockton-on-Tees, North Yorkshire, England. It was previously a port town before the industry moved down the River Tees to more accessible settlements ne ...
and across the
River Tees
The River Tees (), in Northern England, rises on the eastern slope of Cross Fell in the North Pennines and flows eastwards for to reach the North Sea between Hartlepool and Redcar near Middlesbrough. The modern day history of the river has be ...
straddling the boundary between
North Yorkshire
North Yorkshire is the largest ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county (lieutenancy area) in England, covering an area of . Around 40% of the county is covered by National parks of the United Kingdom, national parks, including most of ...
and
County Durham
County Durham ( ), officially simply Durham,UK General Acts 1997 c. 23Lieutenancies Act 1997 Schedule 1(3). From legislation.gov.uk, retrieved 6 April 2022. is a ceremonial county in North East England.North East Assembly â€About North East E ...
in
northern England
Northern England, also known as the North of England, the North Country, or simply the North, is the northern area of England. It broadly corresponds to the former borders of Angle Northumbria, the Anglo-Scandinavian Kingdom of Jorvik, and the ...
. The railway it is situated on, runs between and , and was opened in 1852 as part of the extension of the
Leeds Northern Railway
The Leeds Northern Railway (LNR), originally the Leeds and Thirsk Railway, was an English railway company that built and opened a line from Leeds to Stockton via Harrogate and Thirsk. In 1845 the Leeds and Thirsk Railway received permission for ...
to
Stockton-on-Tees
Stockton-on-Tees, often simply referred to as Stockton, is a market town in the Borough of Stockton-on-Tees in County Durham, England. It is on the northern banks of the River Tees, part of the Teesside built-up area. The town had an estimated ...
. The line and viaduct are currently owned and maintained by Network Rail and carries passenger traffic for
TransPennine Express
TransPennine Express (TPE), legally First TransPennine Express Limited, is a British train operating company owned by FirstGroup that operates the TransPennine Express franchise. It runs regional and inter-city rail services between the major c ...
and
Grand Central train operating companies
A train operating company (TOC) is a business operating passenger trains on the railway system of Great Britain under the collective National Rail brand. TOCs have existed since the privatisation of the network under the Railways Act 1993.
The ...
. It also sees a variety of freight traffic.
The viaduct consists of 43 arches; 41 of which are made of red brick, with the two arches straddling the water constructed of stone. The viaduct, which is cited for its appearance and height above the town, was
grade II listed
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 ...
in 1966.
History
The section of line through Yarm to Eaglescliffe (original Preston) Junction was formally started in July 1847, but work on the viaduct did not commence until 1849.
The structure opened up to traffic on 15 May 1852 and it was the last work completed by Grainger as he died two months later in a railway accident in Stockton-on-Tees. The viaduct is noted for its height above the town of Yarm and is variously described as being "towering", "very beautiful" and "great".
One local writer described the viaduct as being "acknowledged as the finest in the kingdom". Due to its height and length, when viewing the town from afar (especially from the west) the viaduct is a dominating structure across the town.
The line that the viaduct is on (
Northallerton to Eaglescliffe line
Northallerton ( ) is a market town and civil parish in the Hambleton District of North Yorkshire, England. It lies in the Vale of Mowbray and at the northern end of the Vale of York. It had a population of 16,832 in the 2011 census, an increase ...
) carries passenger services for Grand Central ( to ) and TransPennine Express ( to ) as well as a variety of freight traffic to and from the north east.
The structure was strengthened in some of its spans with extra bricks on the inside of the arches and stabilisation works undertaken in 2001 due to subsidence, lessened the vibrations felt by property owners below the viaduct either significantly or completely.
Structure
The viaduct extends for over in a north/south direction over the town of Yarm and across the River Tees. It consists of 43 arches; 41 of them are span and are constructed of 7.5 million red bricks. The other two arches are constructed from stone and are across
[The original design by Grainger had called for a single span over the water of ] with one pier standing in the river. The two spans across the river are composed of of stone and are skewed across the river by 20 degrees. On the downstream side of the viaduct (eastern side) is a large plaque set into the stone section of where the bridge spans the river. This commemorates the engineers and contractors on the project.
Workers on the structure (
navvies
Navvy, a clipping of navigator ( UK) or navigational engineer ( US), is particularly applied to describe the manual labourers working on major civil engineering projects and occasionally (in North America) to refer to mechanical shovels and eart ...
) were paid £1 per day with the total cost of the bridge being £44,500 by its completion in 1852 (£5.6 million equivalent in 2016).
A system of pulleys worked by teams of horses allowed the raw materials to be brought onto the site.
Incidents
*In 1855, when Yarm railway station was at the northern end of the viaduct,
[The original station opened with the line in 1852 and closed in 1960. A new station was opened in 1996 some distance south of the first station across the river on the Yorkshire side.] a train travelling south overshot the station in the darkness and bad weather. A passenger alighted from a carriage and fell to his death.
*In 1997, a train of ballast became partially derailed in Eaglescliffe as it was heading south. When it travelled over the viaduct, loose ballast from the derailed wagon was thrown onto the properties below the viaduct.
Notes
References
External links
Images on ncl siteFootage of a freight train transiting the viaduct in 1962 (begins at 28:00){{Viaducts in Yorkshire
Crossings of the River Tees
Bridges completed in 1852
Railway viaducts in County Durham
Railway viaducts in North Yorkshire
Buildings and structures in Stockton-on-Tees
Grade II listed buildings in North Yorkshire
Grade II listed bridges
Yarm