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Source: "The Midland railway: its rise and progress. A narrative of modern enterprise" by Frederick Smeeton Williams, published by Strahan & Co London (1876). The following extract is from pages 486:
"A mile beyond Stainforth we for the first time pass over the wide rocky bed of the Ribble by a three-arched bridge. Here the engineers had great difficulty in selecting the best route to be taken; the alternatives being, whether to cross and re-cross the river, or by two very heavy cuttings, and perhaps tunnels, to take the line farther to the east. The bridge is built at an angle of 34 degrees, and the long wing walls that sustain the embankment are of ingenious construction, though they were not liked by the builders on account of the number of "quoins" or corners they required."