Arten Gill Viaduct

About

Arten Gill Viaduct is an eleven-arch railway bridge in Dentdale, Cumbria, England. The viaduct carries the Settle to Carlisle railway line over Artengill Beck. The viaduct was originally designed to be further west, which is lower down the steep valley side, but by moving the line slightly eastwards, the viaduct could be installed at a higher location, thereby using fewer materials in its height. Arten Gill Viaduct is constructed partly from Dent Marble in the inside of the arches instead of the more usual brick. Dent Marble is a type of dark limestone which was quarried from Artengill beneath the viaduct itself. The viaduct is a grade II listed structure, and a scheduled monument. Groundwork on site was started in May 1870, with work on the viaduct itself beginning a year later, on 3 May 1871. The parapets were completed in July 1875, with the date being set into the middle stone on each side of the parapet wall. Arten Gill Viaduct is 660 feet (200 m) long, and 117 feet (36 m) high, with the parapets being 1,100 feet (340 m) above sea level. The viaduct has 11 arches, each of which is 45 feet (14 m) across. Whilst it is largely constructed of sandstone, the inner arches of the viaduct spans (soffit) are made from Dent Marble, as opposed to brick, which was normal practice for viaduct building at that time. Most of the Dent Marble used in the viaduct was sourced from a quarry directly underneath the bridge in Artengill, and at least 50,000 tonnes (55, 000 tons) of dressed stone was used in its construction. The use of Dent Marble has been attributed to the proximity of the quarry, rather than of the need for that particular type of stone. There was one recorded fatality during the building process, a worker in the quarry was crushed by a stone, with some of the stones weighing as much as 6 tonnes (6.6 tons). The size of the stones also often lead to the breakdown of the lifting gear. Due to the loose soil and rock on the valley floor, some of the viaduct piers were rooted to a depth of 55 feet (17 m). Each pier of the viaduct is 38 feet (12 m) in circumference, and 15 feet (4.6 m) in diameter at the bottom, tapering to 6.5 feet (2 m) at the base o

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