View of the Viaduct over the Sankey Canal', Warrington, Cheshire, c 1840s.

Coloured lithograph by W Benson. The Sankey Viaduct on the Liverpool and Manchester Railway croses one of the first canals in England, and was erected under the direction of the railway's chief engineer George Stephenson (1781-1848). Designed by William Allcard, it was built of brick with stone facings, and cost the company £45,000. Each of the nine arches spanned 50 feet, rising from slabs of local sandstone. It was built in 1830.