Viaduct

Extracts taken from June and Tony Greathead’s ‘Photographs of Old Conisbrough

“The construction of the Conisbrough viaduct between 1906-7, was the greatest engineering undertaking ever witnessed in the Doncaster area. It was the main feature of the new Dearne Valley Railway, an enterprise which was to connect the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway from Crofton, near Wakefield, with the Great Northern and Great Eastern Railways at Black Carr just below Balby…. It consists of 21 arches, 14 on the western or Cadeby bank of the river, and 7 on the eastern or Conisbrough bank which are connected by an iron girder bridge. The contractors for this section of the new line were Messrs Henry Lovat Ltd of London and Manchester…. The total length of the viaduct is 528 yards, or a quarter of a mile and 88 yards. A feature of the work was the overhead travelling cradle which was used for carrying men and materials to and fro across the river. It was technically called a ‘Blondin’ and was an American invention which was first used in England in connection with the erection of Vauxhall Bridge across the River Thames. The Cable on which the Blondon operated was 1,875 feet in length and was fastened to two 80 feet high steel masts, positioned beyond the ends of the viaduct…

The viaduct arches were built of red brick, faced with a double course of Staffordshire pressed blue brick. In total about 15 million bricks were used in the viaduct’s construction and a quantity of these were pressed by local brick firms at Barnsley, Mexborough and Rotherham.”

Today the bridge offers a stunning view of the River Don, start of the Dearne Valley and Conisbrough Castle.

Viaduct View over North Side