Penponds Viaduct Explained

Bridge Name:Penponds Viaduct
Carries:Cornish Main Line
Locale:Penponds, Cornwall
Material:Brick arches on stone piers.
Length:338feet
Open:1888
Preceded:Hayle Railway structure 1837, then West Cornwall Railway structure 1852
Coordinates:50.2051°N -5.3227°W

Penponds Viaduct is a railway viaduct which carries the Cornish Main Line west of Camborne in Cornwall, England. It crosses over a small valley containing the southern arm of the Red River, and a minor road known as Viaduct Lane.

The Hayle Railway opened the railway through this site in 1837 to link Hayle and Redruth. To overcome a significant change in elevation an inclined plane was built to the east of the present viaduct. When the West Cornwall Railway took over the route, it built a timber trestle viaduct as part of a more gently-graded route which by-passed the inclined plane.

The present-day viaduct was built by the Great Western Railway in 1888 as part of a programme to replace the timber viaducts on the line and prepare the single-track route for double track. It is built of brick arches on stone piers.

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