Victoria Railway Bridge/Viaduct

The Victoria Bridge was listed Grade II* in 1985 with the following description:
'Railway bridge. 1838 by James Walker of Walker and Burges. Rusticated sandstone. 4 main arches, the most southerly spanning the Wear, and 3 minor at each end : main spans 100', 160', 144' and 100'; height from foundations to top of parapet, 156'6". Arches have voussoirs and bands; impost blocks to the minor arches. 3 semi-circular buttresses continue as refuges in the parapet. Massive coping to plinths of cutwaters. Historical note : Built for the Durham Junction Railway and completed on Victoria's coronation day, 28th June, it carried the main London-Newcastle line until 1868. Links the valley sides at their crest, and was modelled on Trajan's bridge at Alcantara although not a copy. Source: Tomlinson North Eastern Railway (Newcastle 1914) 227, 318, 319.'
The bridge carried the North Eastern Railway (HER 2625) over the Wear. It was built by the engineer T E Harrison/James Walker of Walker and Burges. At the time it had the largest span in Europe. The total length of the structure is 820 ft.. It remained in use to carry freight traffic and weekend passenger diversions until 1990 but was mothballed in 1991 and closed in 2012.