Ribblehead Viaduct Engineering

Ribblehead Viaduct is 440 yards long, and 104 feet above the valley floor at its highest point. It was designed to carry a pair of tracks aligned over the sleeper walls. The viaduct has 24 arches of 45 feet span, the foundations of which are 25 feet deep. The viaduct is faced with limestone masonry set in hydraulic lime mortar and the near-semicircular arches are red brick, constructed in five separate rings, with stone voussoirs. In total, 1.5 million bricks were used; some of the limestone blocks weigh eight tons.

Span of Ribblehead Viaduct
Train on Ribblehead Viaduct

Ribblehead Viaduct

The Ribblehead Viaduct carries the Settle–Carlisle Railway across Batty Moss in the valley of the River Ribble at Ribblehead, in the Yorkshire Dales, England. It is one of the most famous feats of Victorian engineering along the stunning Settle to Carlisle railway line and a well-known photo stop for many visitors.

Ribblehead Viaduct