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The Victoria Viaduct is a former rail bridge spanning the River Wear in North East England. The bridge was commissioned by the Durham Junction Railway and designed by Thomas Elliot Harrison. It was based upon the Roman bridge at Alcántara, Spain. Built from 1836-8, the viaduct was named after the-then new monarch, Queen Victoria and was officially opened on 28 June 1838 (the queen's coronation day), although it did not open to traffic until 1839.
The bridge formed part of the main line linking Newcastle upon Tyne and London until the line was routed through Durham in 1872. The line was closed to passenger trains following the Beeching Axe. The bridge continued to carry freight until the closure of the freight terminal at nearby Follingsby in 1991 and the bridge has not been used since.
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