{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2017}} {{Use British English|date=January 2017}} {{Infobox bridge |bridge_name = Cadishead Viaduct |image = Cadishead Viaduct.jpg |image_size = 220 |alt = |caption = Cadishead Viaduct&nbsp;– bridge between [[Cadishead]] and [[Partington]] in [[Greater Manchester]], England. |official_name = |other_name = |carries = Railway line |crosses = [[Manchester Ship Canal]] |locale = [[Cadishead]] |owner = [[Network Rail]] |maint = [[National Highways]] ([[Historical Railways Estate]]) |id = |designer = |engineering = |design = |material = Black Engineering Brick and Steel |length = |width = |height = |mainspan = {{convert|120|ft|m||abbr=on}} |spans = 5 |pierswater = |load = |below = {{convert|75|ft|m||abbr=on}} |builder = [[Cheshire Lines Committee]] |fabricator = |begin = |complete = |open = {{start date|1893|02|27|df=y}} |inaugurated = |preceded = |followed = |heritage = |closed = 1984 |map_cue = |map_image = |map_alt = |map_text = |map_width = |coordinates = {{coord|53.4246|-2.4279|type:landmark_region:GB|display=inline,title}} |extra = }} [[File:Glazebrook & Partington Ellesmere RJD 138.jpg|thumb|left|A 1903 [[Railway Clearing House]] map showing (left) railways in the vicinity of Cadishead Viaduct]] '''Cadishead Viaduct''' is a disused railway viaduct of multi-[[lattice girder]] construction. It was built in 1892 by the [[Cheshire Lines Committee]] to clear the newly built [[Manchester Ship Canal]] to carry the [[Glazebrook East Junction–Skelton Junction line|new deviation]] of the [[Glazebrook railway station|Glazebrook]] to Woodley Main Line. The central span is {{convert|40|yd|m}} long, and the clearance is {{convert|75|ft|m}}.<ref name=Dow>{{Dow-GC2 |pages=143, 145 }}</ref>

The route opened to goods on 27 February 1893 and to passenger traffic on 29 May 1893.<ref name=Dow /><ref>Bridges of the Manchester Ship Canal.{{where|date=July 2010}}{{when|date=July 2010}}</ref>

Following the withdrawal of passenger services in 1964,<ref>The Reshaping of British Railways by Dr [[Richard Beeching]], 1963.</ref> the line became goods only, and when expensive repairs to the viaduct were needed in the early 1980s, [[British Rail]] closed the viaduct and the preceding line towards Glazebrook.

The viaduct is now blocked with containers on each end owing to [[anti-social behaviour]] and to stop people walking across it, as the deck of the viaduct is in a very bad state with major corrosion setting in on the [[soffit]]s and trough decking of the major steel span of the viaduct.<ref>BRB (Residuary) Visual Examination Report, 22 April 2009.</ref> The [[Hamilton Davies Trust]] proposes to restore the viaduct to operation as a multi-modal route, with the potential to operate a heritage railway across it.<ref>{{Citation | url = https://hamiltondavies.org.uk/publications/proposal-re-open-cadishead-viaduct/ | title = Proposal to Re-open Cadishead Viaduct | format = PDF | accessdate = 18 January 2022 | publisher = hamiltondavies.org.uk}}</ref>

==See also== * [[List of lattice girder bridges in the United Kingdom]] * [[Glazebrook East Junction–Skelton Junction line]]

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== * {{Commons category-inline}}

{{Salford B&S |state=collapsed}}

[[Category:Bridges completed in 1893]] [[Category:Railway bridges in Greater Manchester]] [[Category:Former railway bridges in the United Kingdom]]