It is a designated Grade I listed building and has been described as being "the earliest major railway viaduct in the world".

During 2015, Network Rail installed overhead line equipment as part of a wider electrification programme.

[3] George Stephenson was the company's principal engineer for the 31-mile (50 km) route between Liverpool and Manchester.

The route required crossing the Sankey valley west of Newton-le-Willows, about halfway along the line.

[3] The Sankey Brook Navigation Company objected to the Liverpool & Manchester Railway's intended route and insisted that any structure across the valley must provide a minimum clearance of 60 feet (18 m) above the water to allow fully-rigged Mersey flats to pass underneath.

[3] Stephenson designed the viaduct in conjunction with Thomas Longridge Gooch, his chief draughtsman.

Constructed from yellow sandstone and red brick, the viaduct is of nine round-headed arches carried on piers that incline sharply from the base towards the top.

[3] During the first half of 1828, William Allcard (1809–61) was appointed resident engineer for the mid-section of the Liverpool & Manchester railway, which included the Sankey Viaduct and Kenyon cutting.

[3] During spring 1828, work commenced on piling for the viaduct's foundations, which was necessary because of the soft conditions of the ground.

The splayed bases of the viaduct's piers are built on sandstone foundation slabs, which was quarried from the nearby Olive Mount Cutting.