Earn Viaduct
There may have been several viaducts bearing this name. This entry refers to the one near Highlandman Station near Crieff, Perth & Kinross, of which only the pers remain.
The viaduct was on the Crieff Junction Railway, opened in 1856 to link Crieff to the main line railway network. The line closed in 1964.
Rebuilt by Henderson, Matthew and Co of Musselburgh, as part of a programme of work undertaken by Thomas R. Barr. The programme also included the reconstruction of the Isla Viaduct and Glenury Viaduct. The original Earn Viaduct had nine 30 ft timber spans on timber trestles. These were replaced by four wrought iron bowstring Warren truss girders, supported by skewed cast iron cylindrical piers, sunk to solid foundations, and filled with concrete.
The Caledonian Railway had advertised for tenders for the rebuilding work in 1883, the Piers to be of cast iron cylinders filled with concrete, and the superstructure to be of wrought iron. There would be about 162 tons of cast iron and 148 tons of wrought iron.[1]
The imminent modifications were described in the Dundee Advertiser in September 1883. It was pointed out that the timber viaduct was designed by Thomas Bouch. Wind stays were to be provided underneath the cross girders, and a handrail fixed along each side of the bridge from the abutments, and as precaution against trains leaving the rails, guard rails 3 ft high would run throughout the whole length. The piers would be protected from ice by cutwater fenders formed of 12" square piles sheeted with wrought-iron plates, the back being filled in with concrete.[2]
The replacement of the Isla Viaduct and the Earn Viaduct were addressed in some detail in Engineering in 1892, with the emphasis on the Earn Viaduct [3]