Fledborough Viaduct
Fledborough Viaduct
![The full extent of the structure is best seen from the Lincolnshire side as the 39-arch western approach viaduct curves to the south.](http://www.forgottenrelics.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/image1-289.jpg)
![The eastern arches cast their shadows.](http://www.forgottenrelics.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/image2-289.jpg)
![Built from robust engineering brick, 20 low arches carried westbound trains towards the river spans.](http://www.forgottenrelics.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/image3-289.jpg)
![The cooling towers of High Marnham's closed power station peer down on the austere, replacement girders.](http://www.forgottenrelics.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/image4-286.jpg)
![Steel channel braces the piers.](http://www.forgottenrelics.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/image5-281.jpg)
![The tubular columns - 10 feet in diameter, filled with concrete.](http://www.forgottenrelics.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/image6-271.jpg)
![Different generations: original piers support the replacement spans.](http://www.forgottenrelics.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/image7-255.jpg)
![Today's girders rest on welded steel cill beams, perched on the piers.](http://www.forgottenrelics.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/image8-222.jpg)
![The new spans were erected within the original girders.](http://www.forgottenrelics.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/image9-185.jpg)
![The viaduct's scale and curves are best seen from the western end.](http://www.forgottenrelics.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/image10-133.jpg)
![Vegetation has established itself on the north-side spandrel walls.](http://www.forgottenrelics.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/image11-110.jpg)
![A closer view of the river spans from the western abutment.](http://www.forgottenrelics.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/image12-79.jpg)
![](http://www.forgottenrelics.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/image1-289.jpg)
![](http://www.forgottenrelics.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/image2-289.jpg)
![](http://www.forgottenrelics.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/image3-289.jpg)
![](http://www.forgottenrelics.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/image4-286.jpg)
![](http://www.forgottenrelics.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/image5-281.jpg)
![](http://www.forgottenrelics.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/image6-271.jpg)
![](http://www.forgottenrelics.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/image7-255.jpg)
![](http://www.forgottenrelics.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/image8-222.jpg)
![](http://www.forgottenrelics.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/image9-185.jpg)
![](http://www.forgottenrelics.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/image10-133.jpg)
![](http://www.forgottenrelics.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/image11-110.jpg)
![](http://www.forgottenrelics.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/image12-79.jpg)
An extraordinary feat of engineering, the 59 arches and 9 million bricks of Fledborough Viaduct – not forgetting its central girder spans – formerly carried the Lancashire, Derbyshire & East Coast Railway for half-a-mile over the River Trent. Its contractors were rewarded to the tune of £65,000 for their troubles.
The line came under the Great Central’s control in 1907. During the 1950s, a restriction was imposed allowing only one train at a time to cross it. This was lifted when the structure was strengthened. The 120-foot austere metal spans which today reach across the river are not original. Four substantial and wider bowstring sections used to sit across the piers.
Traffic ended prematurely in 1980 following a derailment at nearby Clifton-on-Trent. Closure was deemed preferable to the necessary repair work.