Carnon Viaduct, Falmouth Branch, Cornwall

This shows the elegant Carnon Viaduct on the Falmouth Branch of the GWR.

The original line was built in broad gauge by the Cornwall Railway from Plymouth to Falmouth. This section was opened on 24 August 1863.

The current nine arch viaduct replaced an earlier eleven arch wooden viaduct on stone piers - which can still be seen in the foreground, designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel. It was 96 feet high and 756 feet long.

The original stone piers were constructed on 16 feet in diameter cast iron caissons, which were necessitated by the then tidal nature of the Carnon River and the silt washed down from the many mines upstream.

The GWR replaced the wooden viaduct in 1933 at a cost of £40,000.