Glenesk Viaduct

Location type

Bridge

Names and dates

Glenesk Viaduct (1831-1972)
Glenesk Viaduct (2015-)

Opened on the Edinburgh and Dalkeith Railway.

Description

This viaduct is also known as the North Esk Viaduct. It is a particularly attractive single arch bridge crossing the River North Esk at a height of 60 ft. The bridge dates from 1831 and currently carries a railway, formerly the Waverley Route which closed in 1969 as a through route and re-opened as the Borders Railway in 2015.

The bridge opened with the Edinburgh and Dalkeith Railway in 1831, engineered by James Jardine. Decking was added in 1847 to allow a double track to cross when the line was re-engineered to become the northern part of the Edinburgh and Hawick Railway (North British Railway) which itself was to become the northern part of the Waverley Route on its extension in 1862 from Hawick to Carlisle to become a through Scotland-England main line.

The line closed to passengers in 1969 and remained open to mineral traffic over the viaduct to the Lady Victoria Colliery and Newbattle Coal Stocking Site until 1972.

The viaduct is not far south of Sheriffhall [2nd] and immediately north of Glenesk Junction (for the short Dalkeith branch).

During the period of line closure the trackbed was converted into a footpath, major repairs to stonework, removal of strengthening metalwork (an upturned 'V' which supported a semi-circular curve directly under the arch) and the deck in 1993 facilitating this. The Bilston Glen Viaduct was also repaired.

Tags

Viaduct River North Esk footpath

Aliases

North Esk Viaduct
04/04/2023




News items

25/11/2015Borders Railway bridge dispute taken to tribunal [BBC News]
16/01/2006Cycle-path concern over rail link [BBC]

Books


A Regional History of the Railways of Great Britain: Scotland - The Lowlands and the Borders v. 6 (Regional railway history series)

Galashiels to Edinburgh: Including the Lauder and Dalkeith Branches - the Waverley Route (Scml)

Origins of the Scottish Railway System 1722-1844

Waverley: Portrait of a Famous Route