How Braughing bridge became a threat to public safety
Evidence has emerged of the neglect inflicted by National Highways on Station Road Bridge at Braughing, Hertfordshire, as it seeks to create the climate for its favoured option of infilling.
In 2022, examiners acting for the state-owned roads company recommended that the bridge girders should be repaired and repainted within 12 months due to severe corrosion. No action was taken. In 2025, consultants recommended that the edge girders should be monitored as one had no capacity for traffic loading whilst the other could become ineffective if its condition deteriorated. No action was taken. Hertfordshire County Council advocated the installation of props to support the edge girders on safety grounds. No action was taken.
The structure is now a threat to public safety and the road over it has had to be reduced to one lane. Even then, the threat remains of an edge girder failing, resulting in the collapse of a parapet. Infilling would not resolve this issue, but National Highways is pursuing it anyway.
Please sign the petition launched by the Buntingford Railway & Local History Society to repair the bridge as part of a group of historical assets with the delightfully restored and preserved station next to it. The cost and timescales are expected to be similar to those of infilling, but without the heritage harm.
National Highways cannot be rewarded for years of appalling asset management.
Thank you for your continued support.