Larpool Viaduct
{{Short description|Railway viaduct in North Yorkshire, England}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2021}}
{{Use British English|date=December 2011}}
{{Infobox bridge
| bridge_name = Larpool Viaduct
| native_name =
| native_name_lang =
| image = Larpool Viaduct, Whitby.jpg
| image_size =
| alt =
| caption =
| official_name =
| other_name =
| carries = Foot and cycle path, formerly single track railway line
| crosses =
| locale =
| owner =
| maint =
| id =
| website =
| architect =
| designer =
| engineering =
| design =
| material =
| length = {{convert|305|yd|m|abbr=on}}
| width =
| height = {{convert|120|ft|m|abbr=on}}
| mainspan =
| spans = 13
| pierswater =
| load =
| clearance =
| below =
| life =
| builder =
| fabricator =
| begin =
| complete =
| cost =
| open = {{circa|1885}}
| inaugurated =
| toll =
| traffic =
| preceded =
| followed =
| heritage =
| collapsed =
| closed =
| replaces =
| map_cue =
| map_image =
| map_alt =
| map_text =
| map_width =
| coordinates = {{coord|54.474500|-0.618450|type:landmark_region:GB|display=inline,title}}
| embedded =
{{Designation list
| embed = yes
| designation1 = Grade II
| designation1_date = 4 December 1972
| designation1_number = 1366577
}}
| lat =
| long =
| references =
| extra =
}}
Larpool Viaduct, also known as the Esk Valley Viaduct, is a 13-arch brick viaduct built to carry the Scarborough & Whitby Railway over the River Esk, North Yorkshire, England.
History and description
File:Eisenbahnviadukt Nähe Whitby (Mai 1990).jpg
File:Whitby MMB 48 Larpool Viaduct.jpg
The viaduct was constructed for the Scarborough and Whitby Railway to carry a single track line over the River Esk and valley near Whitby, as well as crossing the Esk Valley Railway, and Whitby, Redcar and Middlesbrough Union Railway. Due to its situation close to the sea the design avoided the use of iron, using brick and cement construction; the design was based on the Saltburn Viaduct.{{sfn|Fox|1886|pp=303–4}} Construction began in October 1882 and was complete by October 1884; two men fell from the piers during construction, but recovered.{{sfn|Fox|1886|p=309}} The resident engineer was Charles Arthur Rowlandson, the contractors were John Waddell and Sons.{{sfn|Fox|1886|p=311}}
The viaduct is a 13-arch structure, {{convert|305|yd|m|abbr=on}} long, with the rail level reaching {{convert|120|ft|m|abbr=on}} high. The foundations on land were excavated to the level of rock, and formed from slag based cement. The river foundations were excavated in brick lined wells. The river foundation excavations were complicated by large oak trees found embedded in the river that required divers for manual removal.{{sfn|Fox|1886|pp=304–5}} Piers 5,7,8 and 9 had triple foundations, connected above the water level by two semicircular arches.{{sfn|Fox|1886|pp=306–7}} Three of the piers in the river are skewed so as not to deflect the tidal flow (the River Esk is tidal as far as Ruswarp upstream).{{cite web|title=Larpool Viaduct|url=http://www.forgottenrelics.co.uk/bridges/gallery/larpool.html|website=Forgotten Relics of an Enterprising Age|access-date=28 November 2015}}{{cite web|title=River Esk (Yorkshire) Tideway Byelaw Report|url=http://www.northyorkmoors.org.uk/discover/rivers/reports-and-resources/River-Esk-Tidal-Byelaw-Report-2011.pdf|website=North York Moors|publisher=Environment Agency|access-date=28 November 2015|page=7}}
The main arches are {{convert|55|to|65|ft|m|abbr=on}} wide, and {{convert|27|ft|6|in|m|abbr=on}} high, made of bricks seven deep, {{convert|2|ft|9|in|m|abbr=on}}. The width between the parapets is {{convert|14|ft|6|in|m|abbr=on}} on straight sections.{{sfn|Fox|1886|pp=307–8}}
Services on the line ended in March 1965 as a result of the Beeching Report.
The viaduct became grade II listed in 1972.{{NHLE|num=1366577|desc= Viaduct at Larpool|accessdate=5 December 2012}} In 2000 much of the former line and the viaduct were opened to the public. By 2006 parts of the brickwork had become unsafe due to spalling, and the parts of the outer layer were replaced.{{cite web|title =THE REHABILITATION OF A VICTORIAN CLAY BRICK RAILWAY VIADUCT| first = Stephen W.|last = Garrity| work =Proceedings of 8th International Conference on Short and Medium Span Bridges|url =http://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/42881/5/GC-074.pdf}} As of 2012 the viaduct is part of the 'Scarborough to Whitby Rail Trail', also promoted as the "Scarborough to Whitby Cinder Track",{{cite web| url =http://www.gatewaywhitby.co.uk/projects/the+cinder+track| title = The Cinder Track|work = www.gatewaywhitby.co.uk| access-date = 17 August 2012}} a cycle route.{{cite web| url =http://www.northyorkmoors.org.uk/visiting/enjoy-outdoors/cycling/moor-to-sea-cycle-network| title = Scarborough to Whitby railway (the 'Cinder Track')| work = www.northyorkmoors.org.uk| access-date = 25 November 2016}}
The viaduct is mentioned in Bram Stoker's 1897 novel Dracula:
{{quote| The little river, the Esk, runs through a deep valley, which broadens out as it comes near the harbour. A great viaduct runs across, with high piers, through which the view seems somehow further away than it really is.|Dracula|Chap.6, Mina Murray's Journal.{{cite book|last1=Stoker|first1=Bram|title=Dracula|date=1897|pages=1–19|url=http://www.publicbookshelf.com/vampire/dracula/mina-murrays-journal|access-date=28 November 2015|chapter=6}}}}
See also
References
{{reflist|30em}}
=Sources=
- {{Cite journal| author-link = Sir Francis Fox| last1 = Fox | first1 = F. | title = Viaduct over the River Esk at Whitby and Culverts in the Ravines. (Including Plate at Back of Volume) | doi = 10.1680/imotp.1886.21174 | journal = Minutes of the Proceedings | volume = 86 | issue = 1886 | pages = 303–311 | year = 1886 | url= https://zenodo.org/record/1449092/files/article.pdf}}
External links
{{commons category|River Esk Railway Viaduct, Whitby}}
{{Railways in Whitby}}
{{Viaducts in Yorkshire}}
Category:Railway viaducts in North Yorkshire