During a short break at the Ramada Hotel (Mercure Hotel) in Ayr, I spent a day walking a little bit of the River Ayr Way at Ballochmyle, passing under the rail viaduct at Ballochmyle. This splendid structure opened in 1848 and is still in use, carrying trains on the Glasgow - Kilmarnock - Carlisle line. The viaduct stands 169 feet above the river and is the highest on an operational rail line in Britain. Its central arch spans 181 feet, the widest masonry arch in the World.
Most of the bridge was constructed of sandstone quarried locally. This is the Permian (~250Ma) dune-bedded desert sandstone of the Mauchline Basin, which is rather soft and tends to become coated on the surface by a light green lichen. A harder sandstone was used where extra strength was required under the arch ring - this was brought by rail from the Dundee area.
The Ballochmyle Viaduct and adjacent rail line were used in the making of the 1996 film, Mission Impossible.
The River Ayr Way opened in 2006 and stretches for 44 miles alongside the river from Glenbuck Loch to the sea at Ayr. |
