Viaducts & Aqueducts
The Crumlin Viaduct
The Crumlin viaduct was built to carry the Newport, Abergavenny, and Hereford Railway over the valley of the Ebbw in South Wales. It is over 1800 feet long, and at its greatest height is over 200 feet above the river. A viaduct is distinguished from a bridge in having separate supporting piers that are not connected together. The Crumlin viaduct is carried by cast iron column members, which support Warren truss girders made of wrought iron. The viaduct was designed by Liddell and Gordon and was placed into service in 1857. It was considered the engineering wonder of its day, and William Humber chose to illustrate it as the frontispiece to his definitive study of iron bridges and girders.