Hownsgill Viaduct

From July 1832 to May 1834, Robert Stephenson was consulting engineer to the industrial Stanhope and Tyne Railway (S&TR), built to transport limestone from Stanhope to Consett, and then with coal onwards to Tyne Dock in South Shields. However, the company was unable to afford a bridge over the 49 m deep and 244 m wide dry valley, Hown's Gill. The company hence authorised Stephenson to construct two steep rope-worked inclines, one at 1:2.5 and a second at 1:3. To enable wagons to be transported from to and onwards to , single wagons were carried sideways in cradles worked by a single stationary steam engine located at the bottom of the gorge. After the S&TR sold its assets in 1842, while the…

Having taken over the line, the S&DR proposed to bypass Hown's Gill through construction of a suitable bridge. They commissioned Thomas Bouch to design and supervise the construction of such a structure. Bouch's design was submitted to Stephenson, who recommended the use of inverted arches under the five central piers to reduce ground loading. The construction tender was won by John Anderson,