Porthkerry Viaduct

Aerial view of Viaduct Wood and Porthkerry Viaduct

Porthkerry Viaduct is a railway viaduct near Barry in the Vale of Glamorgan, Wales.

The viaduct was built in the last years of the nineteenth century to carry the Vale of Glamorgan Railway between Barry and Bridgend. Construction started in 1896 and the bridge was opened in December 1897, but closed within a few days when one of the embankments began to give way.[1] A two and half mile diversion around the north of the valley was quickly built while repairs and underpinning were carried out. The viaduct eventually re-opened on 8 January 1900.[1]

The viaduct has sixteen arches which vary between 45 and 50 feet (15 metres) in width and rising to a height of 110 feet (33 metres) and nowadays spans across Porthkerry Park.[2] It became Grade II listed in 1963.[3]

Originally designed as a route to bring coal to Barry Docks, the railway now carries coal in the other direction, to Aberthaw Power Station. It is also the passenger train route between Cardiff, Cardiff Airport and Bridgend.[4]

References

  1. 1 2 "Porthkerry Viaduct, Rhoose". The Transport Trust. Retrieved 15 December 2014.
  2. ↑ "The viaduct and World War II". Vale of Glamorgan Council. Retrieved 15 December 2014.
  3. ↑ "Porthkerry Railway Viaduct (Partly in the Community of Rhoose), Porthkerry Park, Barry". British Listed Buildings. Retrieved 15 December 2014.
  4. ↑ Davies, Brian E. (2011), Wales: A Walk Through Time - Flat Holm to Brecon, Amberley Publishing, p. 122, ISBN 978-1848687073

Coordinates: 51°23′37″N 3°19′04″W / 51.3935°N 3.3178°W / 51.3935; -3.3178

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