The
cutting at Olive Mount was one of the major problems that George
Stephenson had to overcome on the Liverpool
& Manchester line. Over 480,000 cubic yards of sandstone rock
had to be removed to make the two mile long cutting. The rock was
blasted out and was then used to build the Roby embankment and the
Sankey Viaduct. When finished, the Olive
Mount cutting was 20 ft (6 m) wide and 70 ft (21 m) deep.
Thomas Bury, Olive Mount in 1830
(1)
Samuel Smiles, Life of George Stephenson
(1875)
The
Olive Mount cutting was the first extensive stone cutting on any railway,
and to this day it is one of the most formidable. It is about two
miles long, and in some parts 80 feet deep. Mr. Vignobles, afterwards
describing it, said it looked as if it had been dug out by giants.
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