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Bilston Glen Viaduct is a Category A listed building structure on the disused Glencorse branch line between Loanhead and Roslin.
 It was built in 1892 by the North British Railway to replace a structure designed and built 18 years earlier by none other than Sir Thomas Bouch who designed the fated Tay Bridge. At Bilston, failure due to ground conditions appears to have lead to the structure’s complete replacement. We have no information on the original structure.
It is one of the earliest examples of steel box lattice girder construction and is unique in its immense 135m span.
The branch line was developed by the Edinburgh, Loanhead & Roslin Railway, but was worked by the North British Railway. It was closed to passengers in 1933, but continued to carry freight into the 1960s. Until its closure to the public on grounds of safety, the viaduct was used as an unofficial walkway across Bilston Glen which is designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest.
The Council’s involvement started in 1988 when the Scottish Viaducts Committee of which the Council is a member asked for a special meeting to discuss how we might progress the restoration of the category A listed structure.
Eventually in 1994 the Council had assembled sufficient funds to be able to commission Blyth and Blyth Consulting Engineers to produce a structural survey and estimated restoration costs for the viaduct.
The Council made it clear at an early stage that it did not want to own the viaduct in the long term. Projects (Environment) therefore had to find a prospective new owner. We found one in the Edinburgh Green Belt Trust who had entered a similar agreement with the Council in connection with the Glenesk Viaduct.
It was also clear that the Council would not be able to meet all of the costs itself, and the Projects (Environment) team was charged with approaching sympathetic organisations willing to join a consortium of funding partners. The Council agreed to allocating £30,000 of its own money as seed funding. The Council’s decision to support the project, along with a firm commitment of support from the Heritage Lottery Fund, proved critically important in persuading the other partners to commit their funding. Critical too was the commitment to the project from officers in those organisations.
FUNDERS
- Historic Scotland
- Heritage Lottery Fund
- British Rail Property Board
- Railway Heritage Trust
- Lothian Edinburgh Enterprise Limited
- The European Union
- Scottish Natural Heritage
- Midlothian Council
In early April 1998, Midlothian Council awarded the contract to Kvaerner Construction Limited.
WORK REQUIRED
- The main bearings supporting the structure had seized with age. There were 4 of these. Two different types north and south. Roller bearings at the south end. We couldn’t take the chance of repairing the old ones so they needed to be replaced with new ones.
- Successive expansion and contraction of the metal structure had resulted in cracking and leaning of the northern stone abutment. There was also some damage to the southern abutment. The stone was also badly covered in graffiti and needed to be cleaned.
- The timber deck was rotten and needed complete replacement with a new reinforced concrete deck.
- Structural repairs were needed to the metal work, that having been said the structure was in remarkable condition for its age. No replacement or lost rivets of which there are thousands.
- The structure needed cleaning and repainting and there is a lot of stripping and painting involvedon a steel structure this size. All of this work had to be done from scaffolding hung from the structure.
- In addition to project management by Strategic Services, we had to employ consultant a engineer, architect, quantity surveyors and paint inspector.
Work was eventually completed in early August 1999, some 11 years after initial discussions about the project started.
The restored viaduct was officially opened on 31 August 1999 by Rhona Brankin MSP for Midlothian and the Depute Minister for Sports and Culture.
SIGNIFICANT DATES
- 1988 Scottish Viaducts Committee promotes the restoration of the viaduct
- January 1994 Midlothian District Council commissions engineering survey by Blyth and Blyth. (Jointly funded by MDC, Lothian Regional Council, LEEL and British Railways Property Board).
- 1996 Assembly of funding package
- December 1996 New bearings commissioned
- May 1998 Start of restoration work on the viaduct
- July 1999 New bearings fitted
- August 1999 Restoration works complete.
- Official Opening held on 31 August
- Early August 1999 Restoration works completed.
- 31 August 1999 Official Opening Ceremony.
Please click to return to Projects (Environment)
Geoff Mather
0131 271 3462
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