Its purpose was to supply the now-closed Coltness Iron Works with limestone from the Raw Camps and East Camps Quarries in East Calder, where extensive quarries, brickworks and limekilns were once located.

[2] On the 13th February 1880, the viaduct was the site of a significant railway accident when an axle broke on one of the rear wagons, derailing two wagons and the guard's van, which fell off the viaduct into the River below, tragically killing two guards and a telegraph boy.

[citation needed] [3] Due to the resulting damage to the structure, the viaduct underwent significant repairs and was possibly even rebuilt.

The viaduct closed permanently to railway traffic in 1959, and all the rail tracks as well as adjoining Goods Sheds were subsequently removed.

[4] It now lies within the Almondell and Calderwood Country Park, providing a convenient and scenic footpath and cycle path over the Almond gorge, while connecting the villages of East Calder, Pumpherston and Uphall Station.