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Friday 6 Sep 2024

Brick by brick: Stone and brickwork repairs helping restore iconic Ouse Valley Viaduct

Region & Route:

Southern

| Southern: Sussex

• Work is enhancing life of 180-year-old iconic Grade II listed Viaduct
• Critical piece of railway infrastructure – almost 17 million passenger journeys are made across the viaduct every year
• Originally built using 11 million bricks and opened in 1841

Network Rail is undertaking critical repair work at Ouse Valley Viaduct in Sussex to help maintain this iconic and critical railway structure for another 180 years.

The iconic Grade II listed viaduct, situated in Sussex between Balcombe and Haywards Heath, is undergoing work to restore and repair some of its stone and brickwork to enhance the overall life of the structure, maintain safe and reliable train services as well as ensure the safety of visitors below for years to come.

Ouse Valley Viaduct is a critical piece of infrastructure on the busy railway line that connects Brighton and London – known as the Brighton main line – with almost 17 million passenger journeys made across the viaduct every year, equating to 52,000 journeys on a typical weekday and 20 passenger trains plus a handful of freight trains every hour*.

Arguably one of the country’s most elegant pieces of railway infrastructure, Ouse Valley Viaduct was built between 1839 and 1842 using 11 million bricks, welcoming its first train on 12 July 1841. Standing at 29 metres tall, the Viaduct has 37 arches stretching 450 metres across the Ouse Valley and over the River Ouse.

In recognition of Ouse Valley Viaduct’s Grade II listed status, Network Rail has employed a conservation expert and is working closely with English Heritage and West Sussex County Council’s conservation team to ensure the work is carried out sympathetically and in keeping with this 180-year-old structure.

In this first phase of work, Network Rail’s team of engineers alongside specialist stone masons are repairing and restoring the stone and brickwork to the first eight arches using around 2,600 bricks and 40 tonnes of stone. The bricks have been bespoke made and sourced locally from a business in Haywards Heath while the stone is Richmont Crème – a French limestone which originates from a quarry 8km north of Poitier in western France.

These ongoing repairs are part of a wider long-term programme of work to repair and restore the viaduct with a range of other future work planned including re-casing, fracture repairs, repointing and pinning of masonry, stonework repairs to parapets and cornices, lead redressing and replacement and repairs to integral drainage downpipes.

Lucy McAuliffe, Network Rail Sussex route director, said: “It’s really pleasing to see the ongoing progress by our teams to restore and repair Ouse Valley Viaduct to enhance the overall life of this structure.

“Ouse Valley Viaduct is a stunning piece of infrastructure and critical part of our railway in Sussex with 20 passenger trains and a number of freight services crossing every hour. Almost 17 million passenger journeys are made across the viaduct every year, equating to 52,000 journeys on a typical weekday.

“This work is part of a wider long-term programme to keep passenger and freight services moving over the viaduct safely and reliably for another 180 years, as well as ensure it is safe to welcome the considerable number of visitors each year.”

Jenny Saunders, Customer Services Director for Govia Thameslink Railway, said: “Few parts of the country’s rail infrastructure are as valuable and iconic as the Ouse Valley Viaduct, both for the number of passengers who rely on it and for its architectural importance, so it’s exciting to see Network Rail carrying out this enormous restoration project with such sympathy and attention to detail. We’re delighted that this much-admired structure will continue to serve our customers safely for generations to come.”