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The culvert and the massive earthworks above were once just as famous as the nearby Causey Arch NZ2055 : Causey Arch. They were built prior to 1725 to provide the wooden Tanfield Waggonway with its second crossing of the deep Causey Gill. Little was known at the time about such large scale engineering and all the earth was shifted by hand. It is described as the first railway embankment in the world and the first railway use of culverting.

The culvert was later extended behind to allow the modern road (A6076) to cross the earthwork as still does the Tanfield Railway which was recently reconstructed and used to run preserved trains Link