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Civil Engineering heritage: Scotland - Lowlands and Borders
Date 2007
Event ID 606458
Category Descriptive Accounts
Type Publication Account
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/606458
Through the pass of Killiecrankie the slopes were so precipitous and steep that the Inverness and Perth Junction Railway line of the Highland Railway had to be supported by retaining walls for a distance of 700 yards with an average height of 26 ft and reaching a maximum of 55 ft.
At the narrowest point there is very limited space alongside the Garry and it was necessary to construct a viaduct on a curve of 20 chains (1320 ft) radius, having ten arches each of 35 ft span, at a height of 54 ft above the river bed. The viaduct is built of masonry and 508 ft long, the drama of the site being enhanced by a 240 yard tunnel at its north end. The contractor who executed this challenging work was Alexander Wilson.
R Paxton and J Shipway
Reproduced from 'Civil Engineering heritage: Scotland - Lowlands and Borders' with kind permission of Thomas Telford Publishers.
