Craigellachie Viaduct

NO LONGER EXTANT

This bridge was one of three major river crossings on the Craigellachie-Nethy Bridge section of the Speyside line of the Great North of Scotland Railway. The line closed completely on 4 November 1968, and this bridge was subsequently demolished.

1863 'FORMAL OPENING OF THE CRAIGELLACHIE VIADUCT.
TESTING THE BRIDGE.
The Craigellachie Viaduct, connecting the Morayshire with the Fiddichside and Strathspey Raihvays, was finished on Saturday last; and on the evening of that day means were taken to test the strength of the work. The wooden service bridge was so far removed as to permit the iron work to stand clear; and an engine and a number of heavily laden waggons crossed and re-crossed the viaduct—the weight altogether on the bridge at once being upwards of 200 tons. The test was in every respect satisfactory. The deflection was very little indeed —less we understand than any of the practical men present had ever seen bridge of the same kind. The interesting event of passing the first engine over the viaduct, drew together a large number of the people of the district, and their satisfaction at the success of the trial was shown iv the hearty cheers, which made the valley of the Fiddich ring again.

'DRIVING OF THE LAST BOLTS.
On Monday several of the directors and some other friends left Elgin per the 8 a.m. train, with the view of running the first passenger train from the Dandaleith to the Craigellachie Junction Station, and formally opening the viaduct. Among the directors present were— Provost Grant, the chairman of the company; William Walker, Esq., Kintrae; Alex. Urquhart, jun., Esq., Elgin; John Grant, Esq., Glengrant. Mr Mills, the engineer, and Mr Watt, secretary of the company were also present, along with Mackenzie the contractor, who was accompanied by Mrs and Miss Mackenzie. On the Elgin train reaching the Dandaleith Station, the ordinary passengers dismounted, and the train passed on to the Fiddich with the directors and their friends. The train first went right to the what is henceforward to be the Craigellachie Junction Station ; and after a brief stay returned to the viaduct, where the directors and their friends dismounted—the engine meantime returning to the Dandaleith Station, and the carriages standing on the viaduct. In order that the directors might have the honour of fixing some of the last bolts, three rivets were left unfixed in the iron work of the viaduct. The Provost of Elgin and Glengrant, throwing their coats, resolved to try their hand at the work. First one red-hot bolt and then another were transferred from the furnace to the openings left for them, and clenched in true workman-like style by the Messrs Grant. .......

'...... 'The following description is founded upon notes supplied the acting engineer of the company, and may therefore be relied upon correct: "The abutments and piers are of solid ashlar masonry. The abutment on the south side of the river, and also the pier of the great span over the river, are founded upon cast-iron cylinders. These cylinders are each five feet in diameter, and thirteen feet six inches long—but in two lengths of six feet nine inches each, strongly bolted together. The main pier founded upon eighteen of these cylinders; the abutment on tho south side of the river on fourteen, and the small water pier upon eleven. These cylinders are sunk about fourteen feet below the lowest part of the bed of the river, and there rest upon gravel and clay, and as close together as their circular shape admits. They are filled with concrete, and the open spaces between the tops firmly packed in with pitching. The foundation course of the masonry is laid upon these cylinders; it consisted of large blocks of stone so laid that every stone had a hold of two or more cylinders ; and this was followed by another course stone sixteen inches thick—and so placed as to bind over the joints of the lower course. "

'The bridge itself consists of malleable iron girders. Plate girders five feet deep are used for the three spans of fifty-seven feet, and are placed at distance of seventeen feet from centre to centre. Malleable iron cross girders are rivetted at four feet, centres to these principal girders, and longitudinal timber balks bolted down to receive the permanent way. The large framing consists of two malleable iron lattice girders, two hundred feet clear span. These girders are seventeen feet six inches deep, and are placed seventeen feet apart from centre centre, the railway being carried upon the lower portion of the girder. The permanent way is supported upon malleable iron cross girders and longitudinal timber balks, as in the small spans, That portion of the girder immediately over the main pier and abutment rounded off oil the top, both for the purpose of saving material, and to improve the general appearance. The top and bottom members of the lattice girders consist of plates and angle irons, firmly rivetted together, the sizes and sections varying according to the position and relative strains of the several parts. The lattice bars are all formed angle irons, single or double, of varying thickness, according to the strength required, and securely rivetted at the intersections. The spaces or lattice bar openings are about two feet six inches clear, the lattice bars being placed at angle of forty-five degrees. The girders are braced together by means of malleable iron diaphrams, of elliptical form, on the internal outline; they are placed fifty feet apart, and brace the lattice girders together at the top, bottom, and sides. " The fifty-seven feet girders aud the large lattice girders are securely rivetted together at the main pier, thus forming one continuous girder from end to end of the viaduct. The girders rest direct upon granite saddle blocks at the main piers, and are bolted down firmly with strong bolts, built ten feet into the solid masonry. This is the only point where the girders are permanently fixed; at the remainder of the piers and abutments the girders simply rest upon turned rollers, encased a properly secured malleable iron frame. Tim arrangement is to allow freedom of expansion and contraction in the ironwork." We are informed that every portion of the iron used was thoroughly tested before left the contractor's works, and shown to be able to bear a weight of from 22 to 25 tons per square inch. From the form and construction of the bridge, the strain upon it, even supposing a train consisting entirely of heavy locomotives, can never be more than four tons per inch ! The piers are particularly substantial looking, while at the same time they are neat, and admirably shaped for resisting the pressure of the rapid rolling Spey. On the west side, where the water when in flood will strike upon these piers, they are wedge-shaped —so that with such piers, and such an extent of water-way between the arches, the water will glide past them without even in its wildest mood causing any very severe pressure on the mason work. The entire plan of the bridge is such to please the eye, while it guarantees the utmost security, so far as mechanical construction and substantial materials can do so. In appearance, it a great improvement over any other bridge of the same character the north. Instead of the solid dead walls of the older girder bridges over the Spey and Findhorn, which entirely shut up the passengers as in tunnel while crossing the rivers, the open latticework the Craigellachie viaduct will enable the traveller to have a peep the finest and prettiest landscapes in the north while in the middle of the river. And this view is almost equally good'whether you look up the river towards the old Craigellachie Bridge and Easter Elchies, or down towards Amdilly, &c.

'THE WORKS AND THE WORKERS.
The foundation the viaduct was begun in April 1862 ; and the masonry was all completed before the end of the year. In the spring of the present year, the service-bridge was erected — a substantial wooden erection, which was put up with unexampled rapidity occupying, we are informed, only about six weeks. On the 6th of April last, the heaviest part of the work was begun—namely, the erection tho beautiful and substantial lattice girders; and on Saturday last, the 30th of May, the work was completed-the time occupied being "rather legs' than eight weeks. It is not surprizing that the directors and others felt constrained to congratulate Mr Mackenzie on the speedy and successful execution of the work. Any one who will take the trouble to examine tbe viaduct, will be satisfied that the compliment was not one of mere empty words, but well merited by the contractor. It may not be uninteresting to place on record the parties connected with this beautiful bridge. The consulting engineer Mr James Samuels, London ; the superintending engineer, Mr W. H. Mills, C.E., Collargreen, Craigellachie—to whom, we suspect, we are solely indebted for this beautiful structure. The contractors for the embankment and masonry were — Messrs Mitchell & Ireland, Montrose ; the contractors for the iron-works, Messrs Mackenzie, Clunes and Holland, Vulcan Iron Works, Worcester, England — Mr Mackenzie being the superintending contractor. Resident engineer on the works — Mr T. H. Smith; superintendent of works, Mr James Clunes, England. The viaduct is itself proof of the taste and talent of the engineer, and the manner in which his plans have been worked out, evidence of the character and skill of the contractor; and in all probability the " Craigellachie Viaduct" will carry down to future generations the name of both engineer and contractor. We may state that the cost of the viaduct from £12,000 to £13,000.'

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