Adam Viaduct
ADAM VIADUCT, WALLGATE
Listed on the National Heritage List for England. Search over 400,000 listed places
Overview
- Heritage Category:
- Listed Building
- Grade:
- II
- List Entry Number:
- 1061327
- Date first listed:
- 23-Mar-2001
- List Entry Name:
- Adam Viaduct
- Statutory Address:
- ADAM VIADUCT, WALLGATE
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Location
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Discover moreOfficial list entry
- Heritage Category:
- Listed Building
- Grade:
- II
- List Entry Number:
- 1061327
- Date first listed:
- 23-Mar-2001
- List Entry Name:
- Adam Viaduct
- Statutory Address 1:
- ADAM VIADUCT, WALLGATE
The scope of legal protection for listed buildings
This List entry helps identify the building designated at this address for its special architectural or historic interest.
Unless the List entry states otherwise, it includes both the structure itself and any object or structure fixed to it (whether inside or outside) as well as any object or structure within the curtilage of the building.
For these purposes, to be included within the curtilage of the building, the object or structure must have formed part of the land since before 1st July 1948.
The scope of legal protection for listed buildings
This List entry helps identify the building designated at this address for its special architectural or historic interest.
Unless the List entry states otherwise, it includes both the structure itself and any object or structure fixed to it (whether inside or outside) as well as any object or structure within the curtilage of the building.
For these purposes, to be included within the curtilage of the building, the object or structure must have formed part of the land since before 1st July 1948.
Location
- Statutory Address:
- ADAM VIADUCT, WALLGATE
The building or site itself may lie within the boundary of more than one authority.
- District:
- Wigan (Metropolitan Authority)
- Parish:
- Non Civil Parish
- National Grid Reference:
- SD5717905124
Details
SD50NE
24/2/10079
23-MAR-01
WALLGATE
Wigan
(South,off)
Adam Viaduct
II
Under bridge, set within longer railway embankment. 1946 by the London, Midland and Scottish Railway; chief engineer W K Wallace; contractors Leonard Fairclough Limited. Reinforced pre-stressed pre-cast deck units on in-situ reinforced concrete piers set on old foundations. Pre-cast concrete parapet units, and original concrete handrails and standards on east side. Four spans, the end two 29'9" wide, those in the centre 29'4" and 28'6" wide, with a deck formed of `I'-beams 32" deep. The small space between the top flanges of the `I'-beams which supported the tracks is grouted, and high-tensile tie roads, tightened by the nuts at each end, tie the beams together so that they act together under live load.
The Adam Viaduct is internationally understood to be the earliest pre-stressed railway bridge in England. Only examples in Switzerland are considered to be earlier. The LMS had established a pioneering research institution in 1932 at Derby, where it built extensive testing laboratories in 1935. It developed the use of pre-cast concrete in the 1930s because it was strong, long-lasting and cheap, and because pre-cast units could be installed on the line quickly. But the large depth of the beams required for spans of up to forty feet made the technique of limited use for under bridges. Pre-stressed beams were used for emergency repairs in the war, but this is their first full-scale, designed use.
Sources
Arthur Dean, Prestressed Concrete applied to the Construction of Railway Bridges and Other Works, Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers Railway Division, vol.44, 1951, p.14
Concrete and Constructional Engineering, vol.42, 1947, pp.305-8
F G Thomas, Prestressed Concrete, n.d.
Legacy
The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.
- Legacy System number:
- 489510
- Legacy System:
- LBS
Legal
This building is listed under the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 as amended for its special architectural or historic interest.
Map
This map is for quick reference purposes only and may not be to scale. This copy shows the entry on 04-Jun-2026 at 05:56:29.
Download a full scale map (PDF)© Crown copyright [and database rights] 2026. OS AC0000815036. All rights reserved. Ordnance Survey Licence number 100024900.© British Crown and SeaZone Solutions Limited 2026. All rights reserved. Licence number 102006.006.
End of official list entry