Jamestown Viaduct
Jamestown Viaduct | |
|---|---|
 The Great Marquess crossing Jamestown Viaduct near the Inverkeithing terminus of the SRPS "Forth Circle" special service on 22 August 2010. | |
| Coordinates | 56°01′23″N 3°24′19″W / 56.023°N 3.40525°W |
| Carries | Edinburgh to Aberdeen Line |
| Characteristics | |
| Material | Steel |
| Longest span | 33.4 metres (110 ft) |
| No. of spans | 2 stone arches, 4 steel spans |
| History | |
| Opened | 1890 |
| Location | |
 | |
The Jamestown Viaduct is part of the northern approach to the Forth Bridge in Scotland. It crosses the hamlet of Jamestown and the village of North Queensferry in Fife.
History
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It was constructed between 1887 and 1890, and listed as a Grade B listed building in 2004.[1]
In 2005, the viaduct was strengthened during an eight-day closure of the railway.[2][3] 120 tonnes (118.1 long tons; 132.3 short tons) of steel and 600 cubic metres (21,000 cu ft) of high strength concrete were used to add a reinforced concrete slab underneath the track, in order to improve the load-carrying capacity to Network Rail's standards.[3] The work was worth around £5 million, and engineered by Corus and carried out by Mowlem.[4][5] 20,000 man-hours were worked during the period of closure, which coincided with a "possession" of the Forth Bridge.[2][3]
Design
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It has four main steel girder spans, supported by three sandstone piers.[6] As well as the four steel spans, there is a stone arch at each end of the viaduct.[1] The steel spans are 33.4 metres (110 ft) long, and are at a skew of 70°[1] The spans consist of twin truss girders sitting on the piers, and on top of the truss cross-girders supporting steel deck plates, with a ballasted track.[1]
The viaduct carries the line crossing the Forth Bridge, from Edinburgh to Aberdeen and the north of Scotland, and carries a significant volume of both passenger and freight rail traffic, which previously included transporting coal to Longannet Power Station[1] prior to its closure in 2016. As of 2006[update] there were up to 200 train movements a day and loads of 27 million tonnes annually.[3]
It spans the B981 public road and the former branch railway to North Queensferry and Rosyth.[6] It runs close to and nearly parallel to the A90 road, but the viaduct has a slight curve to the east.[7]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d e Roberts, C.; Bell, G.; Hanson, A.; Henderson, D. (2007). "Jamestown Viaduct, UK: Strengthening of an early steel viaduct". Proceedings of the ICE - Bridge Engineering. 160 (2): 57–63. doi:10.1680/bren.2007.160.2.57.
- ^ a b "Bridge closure causes no problems". BBC News. 25 July 2005. Retrieved 9 September 2014.
- ^ a b c d "Jamestown Viaduct Inverkeithing, Fife". betterpublicbuilding.org.uk. Archived from the original on 7 January 2011. Retrieved 9 September 2014.
- ^ "Shear strength of slab". Railway Gazette. 1 October 2005. Retrieved 9 September 2014.
- ^ "Winning Corus Design Grants Historic Viaduct a New Lease of Life" (Press release). Tata Steel. Archived from the original on 9 September 2014. Retrieved 9 September 2014.
- ^ a b "Inverkeithing, Jamestown Viaduct". rcahms.gov.uk. Retrieved 9 September 2014.
- ^ "Jamestown Viaduct" (Map). Google Maps. Retrieved 9 September 2014.
External links
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