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Network Rail Bridge 174 spanning Blunts Hall Road, is an attractive design with pilasters either side of the four-ring semi-circular arch, curving wing walls, and stone coping. The span is 14ft 10in and it is built in red brick.
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The extension of the Eastern Counties Railway from Brentwood to Colchester was not opened until 1843.
By 1841 contracts were let for the building of the railway to Witham including a ‘Witham Embankment: 40,000 cubic yards carried with 180,000 cubic yards to complete. Considering all these works were carried out by hand, including all the excavations and embankments, it was truly a massive undertaking and a remarkable achievement.
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The Braintree & Witham Times reported on 16th July 2015 “A road could be closed until next month while work is carried out on a crumbling railway bridge. Residents in Blunts Hall Road, Witham, have been sent a letter by Network Rail saying repairs might not be completed until August 7. It is thought that a ballast cleaner train, which lays new material under tracks, caused masonry to fall off the bridge on July 4”. The repairs took place and the bridge is safe again.
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Sources: Peter Kay (Essex Railway Heritage Supplement); Braintree & Witham Times; Witham & Countryside Society