Cefn Coed or Pontycapel Viaduct CF48 2RD

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Cefn Coed or Pontycapel Viaduct

CF48 2RD

The Cefn Coed Viaduct was built in 1866 to carry the Brecon and Merthyr Railway across the river Taff  Fawr at Pontycapel. The design was by Alexander Sutherland, a friend of Robert Thompson Crawshay, and it was partly built by Messrs. Savin and Ward and was, after the failure of the original builders, finished by Sutherland. 

It consists of 15 openings, each one 39 feet 6 inches, a length of 770ft. and a maximum height of 115ft. It was built on a curve and this curve is the viaduct’s main point of architectural interest. The original cost of the viaduct was £25,000 and it is the third largest viaduct in Wales.

Grade II* Listed

History
Railway viaduct, built 1866 by Henry Conybeare and Alexander Sutherland for Savin and Ward at a cost of £25,000. Sutherland was a friend of Robert Crawshay of the nearby Cyfarthfa Iron Works. The viaduct carried the former Brecon and Merthyr Railway over the Afon Taff Fawr and was built on a curve to satisfy conditions laid down by the Crawshay Estate. It was planned to be constructed entirely of limestone like the nearby Pontsarn Viaduct but a trade union strike by stonemasons in February 1866 caused the company to buy 800,000 bricks from Hirwaun and Welshpool and use bricklayers to complete the fifteen arches. Most of the masons were sacked shortly after returning to work. The first arch from the Vaynor side was keyed on 12 May 1866 and the last on 27 August 1866. The viaduct was built for double-line working but a single track only was installed, on the N side.

Railway viaduct; abutments, tall slender piers and parapets of coursed irregular sized rock-faced limestone blocks and fifteen ring-built semi-circular brick arches each of six courses. The piers have a projecting impost band and there are 2 projecting string courses below the parapets. The viaduct is built on a gentle arc some 235m long and has a maximum height of approximately 36m. An inscription on the S side reads ''''''''Built by Savin and Ward 1866''''''''.

The plaque reads:

Cefn Coed Viaduct This viaduct stands at 115 feet high and was built to carry the Merthyr to Brecon Line. The cost of building was £25,000. Notice the curving sweep of the viaduct so built to avoid Crawshay land.