Dowery Dell Viaduct

Dowery Dell Viaduct

Dowery Dell Viaduct showing one pier

Dowery Dell Viaduct with steam train passing towards Longbridge

Dowery Dell, between Rubery and Halesowen in Worcestershire, was a cast-iron, single-track railway viaduct that carried the Halesowen to Longbridge railway until it was dismantled in 1964.

Similar structures

The viaduct was remarkable in being a rare example of a lattice girder supported on trestles, a combination of which there may have been only one other example in Britain, at Bennerley Viaduct (extant), though in that instance the trestles are not as high.

On other well-known trestle-supported viaducts, such as Meldon, Belah, and Crumlin, the superstructure is not a lattice, being typically a Warren truss; and other lattice girders are low structures supported typically on iron caissons, such as Kew Railway Bridge.

Remains

A walk along the footpath that follows the railway route reveals the brick pillar bases that remain in the dell.

References

• Dowery Dell viaduct photos