RIBBLEHEAD VIADUCT VS DAWLISH SEAWALL: SPOT THE DIFFERENCE
What’s the difference between Ribblehead Viaduct and the sea wall at Dawlish? Well, apart from the obvious, the one on the Settle-Carlisle is being repaired with extreme attention to detail – right down to fitting replica gutters (SR506) – while the other is, er, being faced in concrete…
Having already started on a quartermile section west of the station as it seeks to make the sea wall more resilient, Network Rail has now released plans for another quarter-mile area around the station and to its east. And, well, if you didn’t take to the first bit, it’s unlikely you’ll warm to this.
The Grade II-listed station’s timber platform will go, so will the old stone Coastguard boathouse snuggled at the foot of the wall a little further east; there’ll be a new footbridge, new ramps to the beach. And all this is before we get to the plan for the bit between Parsons Tunnel and Teignmouth, where Brunel’s railway will be completely replaced by a new one on reclaimed land further out to sea.
Of course, NR can point out with some justification that it needs to beef up South Devon’s sea defences – but Brunel’s sea wall is every bit as iconic and historic as the ‘S&C’. Would we really accept a replacement Ribblehead… in concrete?