page_title: Stockport Viaduct
section_title: Construction
hierarchical_section_title: Stockport Viaduct / History / Construction
caption_attribution_description: Stockport and the viaduct circa 1854. Greyscale. Levels adjusted. Image taken from: Title: "Bradshaw's Hand-Book to the Manufacturing Districts of Great Britain ... Illustrated with ... county maps" Author: BRADSHAW, George - Publisher of the “Railway Guide.” Shelfmark: "British Library HMNTS 10351.f.2." Page: 79 Place of Publishing: London Date of Publishing: 1854 Publisher: W. J. Adams Issuance: monographic Identifier: 000448950 Note: The colours, contrast and appearance of these illustrations are unlikely to be true to life. They are derived from scanned images that have been enhanced for machine interpretation and have been altered from their originals. If you wish to purchase a high quality copy of the page that this image is drawn from, please order it here. Please note that you will need to enter details from the above list - such as the shelfmark, the page, the book's volume and so on - when filling out your order. Following this or the link above will take you to the British Library's integrated catalogue. You will be able to download a PDF of the book this image is taken from, as well as view the pages up close with the 'itemViewer'. Click on the 'related items' to search for the electronic version of this work. Click here to see all the illustrations in this book and click here to browse other illustrations published in books in the same year. Please click on the tags shown on the right-hand side for other ways to browse the illustrations.
context_page_description: Stockport Viaduct carries the West Coast Main Line across the valley of the River Mersey in Stockport, Greater Manchester, England. It is one of the largest brick structures in the United Kingdom.
  Stockport Viaduct was designed by George Watson Buck for the Manchester and Birmingham Railway. In 1839, work commenced and around 11 million bricks were used in its construction before it was completed in 1840. The viaduct is 33.85 metres high. At the time of its construction, it was the world's largest viaduct and a major feat of engineering. Stockport Viaduct is a Grade II* listed structure and remains one of the world's biggest brick structures.
  In the late 1880s, the viaduct was widened to accommodate four tracks instead of two. In the 1960s, overhead catenary lines were installed by British Rail for the West Coast Main Line electrification scheme. In the second half of the 20th century, the M60 motorway was built, passing through two arches between Junction 1 and Junction 27.
context_section_description: Several contractors were employed in the viaduct's construction including John Tomkinson and Samuel and John Holme. Work was overseen by the resident engineer W. Adams and later by W.H. Perkins.
  At the peak of the work, around 600 workers were employed in shifts to complete the structure. The viaduct was built of layer upon layer of common brick. It took 21 months to construct, cost £72,000 and around 11 million bricks and 11,300 cubic metres of stone were used. The scaffolding and centring used to build the arches were reused in the construction of the Dane Viaduct 15 miles to the south.
  The Manchester to Stockport line was officially opened on 4 June 1840, but the viaduct was not completed until 21 December 1840. On 16 July 1841, the first train crossed the viaduct and it was opened to rail traffic on 10 August 1842 enabling through services to Crewe and facilitating travel to London.
caption: The viaduct circa 1854
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