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line. The railway company was forced to take the work in-house under
Stephenson's supervision. Digging the cutting required the removal of 27 million cubic feet (765,000 cubic metres) of material, some of which was re-used on embankments elsewhere. The eventual cost of the project was over three times the figure for which the contract was let, largely due to the ground conditions, which had not been anticipated. Much of the rock was excavated by blasting—over 3,000 barrels of gunpowder were used—but the removal of the water required the installation of two steam pumps.
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The contractor for Roade was responsible for the section of line from just north of
Wolverton Viaduct in the south to Blisworth in the north. The contractor underestimated the scale of the work and went bankrupt 18 months into the construction work, as happened with several of the contracts on the
173:
The cutting is 1.5 miles (2.4 kilometres) long and a maximum 65 feet (20 metres) deep. The ground proved to be an unstable combination of limestone, clay, and shale and the construction work suffered problems with water ingress. Large brick retaining walls were required to stabilise the cutting
241:) and cross the Nene there. The cutting was originally double-tracked but was widened on its east side from 1881 to 1882 when the line was quadruple-tracked. The second pair of tracks diverges at the northern end of the cutting to serve Northampton via the
174:
sides. The cutting is crossed by four tall brick bridges and an aqueduct, which was built to carry a small stream. The overbridges have all been rebuilt but the aqueduct, in cast iron and supported on stone piers, is original and is now a Grade II
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was constructed underneath the deeper part of the cutting for additional stability. Ten years later, overhead iron girders were added to stabilise the retaining walls after a series of landslips.
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210:, is just south of Roade. Roade Cutting, sometimes known as Blisworth Cutting, was required to navigate the railway through a patch of high ground called Blisworth Hill.
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line. This pair of lines is deeper than the original and another retaining wall was built between the two sets of tracks and an
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on the line to 1:330, which necessitated major engineering works where the route encountered landscape features, including
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Contracts for construction were let in 1834 and the line through the cutting opened in 1838 as part of the
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would require a steeper gradient than 1:330; Stephenson instead chose to take the line through Roade and
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as important for reconstructing the environment of deposition during the period, and correlating the
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stage, between 168.3 and 167.1 million years ago. It is described by
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Britain's
Historic Railway Buildings: A Gazetteer of Structures
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and a series of bridges and viaducts of which the largest,
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Sites of
Special Scientific Interest in Northamptonshire
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Sites of
Special Scientific Interest in Northamptonshire
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Civil
Engineering Heritage: Eastern and Central England
345:. Sites of Special Scientific Interest. Natural England
298:. Sites of Special Scientific Interest. Natural England
276:. Sites of Special Scientific Interest. Natural England
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663:Collyweston Great Wood and Easton Hornstocks
618:Badsaddle, Withmale Park and Bush Walk Woods
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485:. Ashford: Capital Transport Publishing.
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142:The cutting exposes rocks dating to the
466:(second ed.). Hersham: Ian Allan.
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274:"Designated Sites View: Roade Cutting"
114:and 15.2-hectare (38-acre) geological
623:Banhaw, Spring and Blackthorn's Woods
447:. Newton Abbot: David & Charles.
320:. Joint Nature Conservation Committee
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917:Geological Conservation Review sites
318:"Roade Railway Cutting (Bathonian)"
116:Site of Special Scientific Interest
25:Site of Special Scientific Interest
400:National Heritage List for England
14:
808:Wadenhoe Marsh and Achurch Meadow
891:Upper Cherwell at Trafford House
628:Birch Spinney and Mawsley Marsh
217:The railway initially bypassed
190:(L&BR). It was designed by
783:Sudborough Green Lodge Meadows
132:Geological Conservation Review
1:
851:Blisworth Rectory Farm Quarry
803:Upper Nene Valley Gravel Pits
188:London and Birmingham Railway
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504:. London: Thomas Telford.
778:Stoke and Bowd Lane Woods
753:Ramsden Corner Plantation
481:Jenkinson, David (1988).
443:Beckett, Derrick (1984).
155:White Limestone Formation
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886:Thrapston Station Quarry
871:Finedon Top Lodge Quarry
340:"Roade Cutting citation"
876:Irchester Old Lodge Pit
788:Syresham Marshy Meadows
703:Helmdon Disused Railway
462:Biddle, Gordon (2011).
856:Collyweston Slate Mine
748:Racecourse Farm Fields
500:Labrum, E. A. (1994).
296:"Map of Roade Cutting"
773:Southfield Farm Marsh
758:River Ise and Meadows
698:Hardwick Lodge Meadow
693:Glapthorn Cow Pasture
643:Bucknell Wood Meadows
598:Alder Wood and Meadow
708:High Wood and Meadow
678:Dungee Corner Meadow
668:Collyweston Quarries
633:Bosworth Mill Meadow
445:Stephensons' Britain
395:"Aqueduct (1294250)"
380:Labrum, pp. 221–222.
120:West Coast Main Line
713:King's Cliffe Banks
533: /
420:Beckett, pp. 92–95.
130:, England. It is a
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823:Whittlewood Forest
738:Pitsford Reservoir
728:Old Sulehay Forest
673:Coombe Hill Hollow
200:a previous cutting
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828:Wollaston Meadows
793:Titchmarsh Meadow
648:Bugbrooke Meadows
429:Jenkinson, p. 16.
235:Stowe Hill Tunnel
208:Wolverton Viaduct
192:Robert Stephenson
108:Blisworth Cutting
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866:Cranford St John
813:Wakerley Spinney
743:Plumpton Pasture
688:Geddington Chase
658:Calender Meadows
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537:52.166°N 0.906°W
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128:Northamptonshire
106:, also known as
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861:Cowthick Quarry
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653:Bulwick Meadows
603:Aldwincle Marsh
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196:ruling gradient
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151:Natural England
144:Middle Jurassic
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733:Pipewell Woods
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51:Grid reference
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718:Mantles Heath
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638:Bozeat Meadow
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511:9780727719706
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473:9780711034914
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247:inverted arch
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163:East Midlands
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75:15.2 hectares
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19:Roade Cutting
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437:Bibliography
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404:. Retrieved
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347:. Retrieved
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322:. Retrieved
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300:. Retrieved
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278:. Retrieved
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90:Location map
81:Notification
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818:Weldon Park
608:Ashton Wold
540: /
349:20 December
324:18 December
302:20 December
280:20 December
219:Northampton
169:Engineering
159:Oxfordshire
122:north from
906:Categories
843:Geological
768:Short Wood
723:Mill Crook
613:Badby Wood
590:Biological
525:52°09′58″N
231:Weedon Bec
223:River Nene
118:along the
67:Geological
57:SP 749 525
528:0°54′22″W
253:Citations
227:Blisworth
147:Bathonian
112:earthwork
95:Magic Map
406:18 April
161:and the
64:Interest
41:Location
182:History
138:Geology
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134:site.
343:(PDF)
233:(via
204:Tring
124:Roade
506:ISBN
487:ISBN
468:ISBN
449:ISBN
408:2024
351:2016
326:2016
304:2016
282:2016
237:and
85:1986
72:Area
229:to
202:at
157:in
126:in
908::
397:.
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371:^
359:^
261:^
178:.
165:.
574:e
567:t
560:v
514:.
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353:.
328:.
306:.
284:.
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
