2-799-081 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

Timber Viaduct on the Darlington and Newcastle Railway, 1844. Railway bridge over the River Sherbourne. 'The value of timber viaducts, as the means of effecting the economical construction of railways, is a point of engineering practice becoming daily of greater importance. Those on the Newcastle and Darlington railway are the work of Mr. Harrison. The Sherburn construction is from 60 to 70 feet high; it is founded on piles driven 35 feet into the ground; several courses of masonry rest on these piles, and from the masonry spring the light tall timber baulks that support the railing. A single baulk, a foot square and 70 feet high, with a locomotive engine on the top of it, is at first sight an alarming statement'. From "Illustrated London News", 1844, Vol V.