Breydon Viaduct

About Breydon Viaduct

Breydon Viaduct was a railway bridge across the River Yare near Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, England that was built by the Midland and Great Northern Joint Railway (M& GN). HistoryBreydon Viaduct was built to cross the River Yare just downstream of Breydon Water and hence connect Yarmouth Beach station to the Norfolk and Suffolk Joint Railway line from Yarmouth South Town railway station. By doing so it gave passengers from the Midlands a direct link to Lowestoft. The Engineer-in-Chief of the work was Alexander Ross, the Chief Engineer of the Great Northern Railway. William E. Newman provided the mechanical and structural design and William Marriott acted as executive engineer. The bridge was 800ft long and consisted of five spans. The second span from the south rotated about its midpoint in the manner of a swing bridge to leave two 60ft passages for river traffic. This section sat on a cast iron pivot which used 2in ball bearings which made the bridge so free running that it could be manually opened by just one person.

Breydon Viaduct Description

Breydon Viaduct was a railway bridge across the River Yare near Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, England that was built by the Midland and Great Northern Joint Railway (M& GN). HistoryBreydon Viaduct was built to cross the River Yare just downstream of Breydon Water and hence connect Yarmouth Beach station to the Norfolk and Suffolk Joint Railway line from Yarmouth South Town railway station. By doing so it gave passengers from the Midlands a direct link to Lowestoft. The Engineer-in-Chief of the work was Alexander Ross, the Chief Engineer of the Great Northern Railway. William E. Newman provided the mechanical and structural design and William Marriott acted as executive engineer. The bridge was 800ft long and consisted of five spans. The second span from the south rotated about its midpoint in the manner of a swing bridge to leave two 60ft passages for river traffic. This section sat on a cast iron pivot which used 2in ball bearings which made the bridge so free running that it could be manually opened by just one person.