Polnish, Arnabol Viaduct
Railway Viaduct (20th Century)
Site Name Polnish, Arnabol Viaduct
Classification Railway Viaduct (20th Century)
Alternative Name(s) Arnabol Burn
Canmore ID 22717
Site Number NM78SW 5
NGR NM 73851 83640
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/22717
- Council Highland
- Parish Arisaig And Moidart
- Former Region Highland
- Former District Lochaber
- Former County Inverness-shire
In 1897-1901, making pioneering use of mass concrete, engineers Simpson & Wilson produced for the North British Railway's 40 mile West Highland Line extension a series of bridges, culverts, platforms, retaining walls, 11 tunnels and six viaducts, which have defied corrosion. This monument to concrete engineering earned for its contractor Robert McAlpine the nickname 'Concrete Bob'. Viaducts: six-arched at Arnabol, eight-arched at Loch Nam Uamh (four each side of a great central concrete pylon); three-arched (with rusticated voussoirs) crossing the Brunery Burn at Larachmor and, most daring of all, a central span leaping 12 7.5 ft over a steep gully at Borrodale, twice the span of any existing arch at the time.
Taken from "Western Seaboard: An Illustrated Architectural Guide", by Mary Miers, 2008. Published by the Rutland Press http://www.rias.org.uk
NM78SW 5 73851 83640
West Highland Extension; North British Railway. Opened 1901.
(Undated) information in NMRS.
