Facelift for yellow brick road bridge

A DISTINCTIVE Victorian road bridge has been given a major facelift (left) thanks to National Highways tracking down the unusual yellow bricks with which it was originally built.

Christow Station railway bridge was built around 1882 and is one of 3,100 structures which were once part of the railway network and are now part of the nation’s Historical Railways Estate, looked after by National Highways on behalf of the Department for Transport.

To the untrained eye, the bridge, which carries a county lane off the B3193, looks very ordinary – but its unusual yellow glazed bricks feature on only a handful of structures in the Historical Railways Estate, and the sevenweek programme of renovations could not begin until a supply of them was found.

National Highways HRE Civil Engineer Matthew Irwin said: “Christow Station railway bridge needed extensive work to make sure it remained safe and in good repair, but it was also important to us that we maintained its distinctive historical look and we’re delighted our contractors were able to track down copies of the unusual bricks that were used when it was built.”

The scheme, which was completed by contractors Hammond, involved extensive brickwork and repointing repairs.