[edit] Conisbrough Viaduct The viaduct was built with 12 million Conisbrough blue bricks and has 21 arches. The central metal span spans the Don at a height of 113 feet and is 150 feet (46 m) long (34 m). It carries four lanes of traffic. The Conisbrough Viaduct was built in 1872 by Thomas Pritchard to carry the East Cleveland Railway over the River Don near its junction with the Metropolitan-Cleveland railway line. The company had been formed by members of the Willis family who owned the Blackpool Tower. The viaduct was designed by John Urpeth Rastrick who also did work on the Blackpool Tower. It replaced an earlier bridge that had been damaged by flooding but this had only two lanes rather than four so it was still capable of carrying considerable traffic. The viaduct became operational in 1873 and within a few years it was carrying up to 100 trains a day. This increased to 200 trains per day by 1880. In 1901, after many improvements including widening the central section by adding brick parapets and protective railings, the bridge was refurbished at a cost of £40,000 (now £1.5 million). These improvements were done by Henry Boot Ltd from Leeds who specialised in building bridges across canals and rivers.