Just above Pirbright Wharf at Lock 15, the bottom lock of the 14-lock Deepcut flight, a steel girder bridge used to cross the canal.
It was built in 1890 by the London and South Western Railway to carry the Bisley Camp branch line which ran from Brookwood. The line, which served the National Rifle Ranges at Bisley, was closed in July 1952.
Between 1916-17 the Army constructed an extension to serve Deepcut and Blackdown Camps.
On this line a weekend leave train operated - known locally as the 'Bisley Bullet' or the 'Bisley Flyer' - to connect with the main line at Brookwood.
The service ended in 1921 because the Army operating personnel were needed to run Longdown Military Railway.
A feature of the Bisley, Deepcut and Blackdown Railway was Deepcut Station built by Canadian troops as a replica of the Canadian Rockies log-timbered stations.
In May of 1967 on his historic trip up the canal to establish navigation rights along the derelict canal, Les Harris passed under the old disused viaduct.
In 1979 the 90-year old steel girder viaduct was demolished by British Rail. Only the abutments on either side of the canal were left standing.
The site of the viaduct, as seen from Lock 15. [Place mouse over picture]
[Based on an article by: Dieter Jebens in BC News 90, April 1980]
A history of the Bisley Camp Branch Line was published in 1986 by Peter A. Harding & John M. Clarke [ISBN 0 9509414 2 5]
