Tinsley Viaduct

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Tinsley Viaduct
The Viaduct from Meadowhall, with the cooling towers of the former Blackburn Meadows power station, behind
Carries	M1, A631
Crosses	River Don Sheffield Canal Sheffield and Rotherham Railway
Locale	Tinsley/Wincobank
Maintained by	Highways Agency
Design	twin deck box girder bridge^[1]
Longest span	50 m / 163 feet (20 spans)
Total length	1,033m / 3,400 feet
Width	6 lanes
Height	20 metres (66 feet) (to upper level)
Vertical clearance	10 metres (33 feet) (on the A631)
Clearance below	10 metres (33 feet) metres^[2]
AADT	100,000 vehicles/day^[3]
Beginning date of construction	Spring 1965^[4]
Completion date	1968
Opening date	25 March 1968^[4]

Tinsley Viaduct is a two-tier road bridge in Sheffield, England; the first of its kind in the UK. It carries the M1 and the A631 1033 metres over the Don Valley, from Tinsley to Wincobank, also crossing the Sheffield Canal, Sheffield and Rotherham Railway (now known as the Dearne Valley Line and the Sheffield-Hull Line). The Supertram route to Meadowhall runs below part of the viaduct.

Tinsley Viaduct lower deck

The viaduct was opened in March 1968^[5] and cost £6 million to build. The bridge has since been strengthened, in 1983 and again in 2006. Although originally designed to carry 6 lanes, during the strengthening work the M1 was permanently reduced to 4 lanes following an EU directive on load bearing. This arrangement allows the third lane in each direction to join from J34 to make the very busy junction safer.^[6]

The viaduct is balanced on rollers to allow for thermal expansion and contraction, and the route weaves slightly in order to make its way past obstacles. As things currently stand, the Meadowhall Shopping Centre lies in the valley to the west, while to the east is the Blackburn Meadows sewage works.

The viaduct is one of Sheffield's most prominent landmarks, made all the more so by the adjacent pair of cooling towers that were left standing for safety reasons after the demolition of the Blackburn Meadows power station. Both the viaduct and the cooling towers continue to be the subject of local controversy — many criticise the viaduct as unsafe and constantly under repair, and others consider the cooling towers an eye-sore that should be pulled down. The cooling towers in particular have been a major point of contention over the years, and were once only saved from destruction after being chosen as a nesting site by a rare bird. More recently, plans were made to turn them into a piece of public art.^[7] Other plans for the towers included concert halls, skate parks and a theme park. Their iconic status, and the possibly prohibitive costs of demolishing the towers safely, until recently looked to have cemented their status in Sheffield's future as much as they were a part of its history, until the owner of the tower (and the now-demolished power station) E.On, have stated their intention to demolish them now that the strengthening of the viaduct makes it more feasible.

The two towers were originally going to be demolished some time in September 2007, however as of 17th of September 2007, the Sheffield Star has reported that no date had yet been set by E.ON for the demolition.^[8] As of 15th May 2008 they still stand.