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Original Text (Annotation: epw023602 / 454019)
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The London and South Western Railway bridge register c1900 says "Tavistock Viaduct, 213 m 57c (from Waterloo), over roads, Concrete arches, masonry piers and abutments, 8 - 3@32', 5 @ 50', 61ft to soffit."
But this does tell the whole story. To fit around the roads that were already there the pier between the second and third 50ft arches (from the north) is a double pier to correctly space the arches over the streets below. The three 32ft arches at the north end take up the same space as two 50ft arches, but if they had been built two 50ft arches the pier between would have been in the middle of the lower road.
It is an interesting example of the way in which when being built the railways worked round the established landscape .... whereas today we would probably move the road(s).
The attached picture shows the join between the Granite piers and the concrete arches, which is especially noticeable on the pier between 50ft and 30ft arches, where the natural stone continues to the higher springing of the smaller arch. The spandrel walls of the viaduct are granite all the way to the top, hiding the concrete interior. '