Stockport (Edgeley) Viaduct Stockport

MANCHESTER AND BIRMINGHAM RAILWAY – CONTRACT FOR WORKS – Notice is hereby given that the Directors of the Manchester and Birmingham Railway Company will meet at their offices, No 23 Bond Street, Manchester, on Wednesday 31 October 1838, at twelve o’clock at noon to receive tenders for the under-mentioned contracts:  No 5 or STOCKPORT VIADUCT CONTRACT – To make and maintain the bridge or viaduct over the River Mersey, the north end of which is situate at the distance of about seven chains south of George’s Road, in the township of Heaton Norris, in the county of Lancaster, and the south end of which is situate at a distance of about 2½ chains south of Daw Bank, in the town of Stockport, in the county of Chester. The length of the viaduct will be about 1,734 feet, and its greatest height will be about 105 feet from the river to the rails. Drafts of the contracts, with plans and specifications, will be ready for inspection on or after Monday 8 October next, at the offices of the Engineer in Chief, Store Street, Manchester. … Robert Barbour, Chairman. 21 September 1838.[ Manchester Guardian 6 October 1838 page 1]

COMPLETION OF THE STOCKPORT VIADUCT – The ceremony of laying the stone forming the completion of this stupendous viaduct, conveying the Manchester and Birmingham Railway over the valley of the Mersey at Stockport was performed on Monday last. Before detailing the proceedings, an account and description of the viaduct, which is probably the largest work of the kind ever constructed in the world, will, no doubt, be interesting to many of our readers.

The extreme length of the viaduct is 1,786 feet. It has 22 semi-circular arches, each of 63 feet span, four of 20 feet span, and two at each abutment. The height of the viaduct (to the surface of the rails) is 111 feet above the bed of the river, being six feet higher than the celebrated Menai Bridge. The foundations of all the piers, except the two in the river, are laid on the sandstone rock; and the foundations of the river piers are laid at a depth of six feet in the rock. The piers are 10 feet thick, and formed with perpendicular sides; most of them being thicker at the bottom than at the top. The thickness of the river piers is eleven feet. The viaduct is built of stone and brick, but principally of brick; the foundation of the piers, and to a height of nine feet above the ground, and the parapets being of stone, and all the rest brickwork. The width of the road between the parapets is 28 feet, affording ample room for two lines of railway. One line is already laid. It is laid on longitudinal and transverse sleepers, which have undergone a process by which they have been completely saturated with creosote, every cubic foot of the wood having been made to absorb a gallon of that liquid. This process was first used, we believe, on this line; Mr Buck, the engineer, considers that it renders the wood much less liable to decay than the Kyanising process. The foundation stone of the viaduct was laid on the 10th of March 1839, so that the time occupied in erecting and completing this immense structure (notwithstanding the hindrances caused by the floods in the Mersey, by washing the centres away two or three times at the commencement of the work) has been only a year and nine months. This is a matter of astonishment to all who have seen the work, and will not be less so to others when we state that the quantity of stone used in the erection is 400,000 cubic feet, and that the number of bricks is no fewer than eleven millions. The viaduct has an appearance of great stability and firmness, and does great credit both to the designer, Mr G W Buck, and the contractors, Messrs Tomkinson and Holmes, of Liverpool. The viaduct was originally intended to be built ten feet lower than it at present is, but finding that by elevating it to its present height, a considerable saving might be effected in other parts of the line, the company obtained an act to empower them to effect that object, whereby a saving of £50,000 in the construction of the whole line was effected. The cost of the viaduct, we understand, is about £70,000.  The completion of such a work was of course an era in the formation of the railway, and it was arranged that the last stone should be set by Thomas Ashton, Esq., the chairman of the board of directors. A temporary platform was erected at the south end of the viaduct, where the stone was to be set, and under the stone, which was at the south-east end, was a brass plate, on which was engraved the following inscription: “This viaduct was commenced on the 10th of March 1839; and the last stone was set on the 21st December 1840, by Thomas Ashton Esq of Hyde, chairman of the directors; George W Buck, engineer; John Tomkinson, Samuel Holme, James Holme, builders.” [Manchester Guardian 23 December 1840 page 3]

Reference    Manchester Guardian 26 September 1838 page 1
Reference    Manchester Guardian 6 October 1838 page 1– contracts
Reference    Manchester Guardian 23 December 1840 page 3