Crossing the Nine Arches

Image: © David Dixon Taken: 2 Feb 2013

A Northern Rail commuter train crosses Sankey Viaduct, heading towards Earlestown and Manchester. The Sankey Viaduct, which is known locally as "the Nine Arches", was the first major railway viaduct to be built anywhere. Constructed between 1828 and 1830 by George Stephenson for the Liverpool and Manchester Railway Company, it was built to carry the World’s first passenger railway (which ran between Liverpool and Manchester) across the Sankey Valley. Constructed from yellow sandstone and red brick, the viaduct consists of nine round-headed arches (hence the name) carried on piers that incline sharply from the base towards the top. 183 metres (600 feet) in length, its arches each have a span of 15 metres (50 ft), and are 21 metres (70 ft) high. The height was needed to enable the railway to cross the line of the Sankey Canal with sufficient clearance for the Mersey flats, the sailing vessels for which the canal was constructed. The site has added national historical importance as it is where the World’s first passenger railway crossed England’s first industrial canal. The canal passed under the third arch from the right (the path in the picture follows the line of the towpath with the canal, now filled in, to the right of the path). The viaduct has been designated by English Heritage as a Grade I listed building. http://transportheritage.com/find-heritage-locations.html?sobi2Task=sobi2Details&sobi2Id=710 Transport Heritage Locations

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