Network Rail’s £30million refurbishment of Barmouth Bridge on the Cambrian Line in West Wales is now complete, reopening to schedule on 2 December. The work that has taken place has been some of the most challenging ever undertaken on the structure, replacing the steel spans with like for like new steelwork. The 154-year-old, Grade II* listed single-track structure is the oldest and longest timber viaduct in Wales, at 820m (900 yards) long, with a pedestrian and cycle pathway alongside the railway.
It runs across the Mawddach Estuary between Morfa Mawddach and Barmouth stations and was designed and constructed by the Aberystwyth and Welsh Coast Railway on its line between Aberystwyth and Pwllheli.
Construction of the viaduct started in 1864, opening in October 1867. The line had already been absorbed into the Cambrian Railways the previous year. A drawbridge was included when it was built to allow the passage of tall ships up the Afon Mawddach,
