Designed by the
engineer John Sydney Crossley. The first stone was
laid on 12 October 1870 and the last in 1874. It is
104 feet (32 m) high and spans 440 yards (402 m).
It is made up of twenty-four arches. It is located
at the foot of the mountain of Whernside.
It is the longest and most famous viaduct on the Settle-Carlisle
Railway, a railway line passing through some spectacular
British scenery. Ribblehead railway station is located
less than half a mile to the south of the viaduct.
Just to the north of it is the Blea Moor Tunnel, the
longest tunnel on the Settle-Carlisle Line.
The viaduct is curved, and so may be seen by passengers
on the train.
Two thousand Navvies building the viaduct established
shanty towns on the moors, named the towns after victories
of the Crimean War, sarcastically for posh districts
of London, and Biblical names. There were smallpox
epidemics and deaths from industrial accidents; meaning
that the church graveyard at Chapel-le-Dale had to
be extended.
