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
Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
