Campaigners have voiced concerns about ‘damaged stonework’ and ‘poor repairs’ at a historic railway bridge in Cumbria which National Highways exhumed last year at an ‘eyewatering’ cost to the taxpayer.
image for illustration: Great Musgrave Bridge by RuthAS – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0
The News & Star writes:
In June 2021, Great Musgrave bridge near Kirkby Stephen was controversially in-filled by Nation Highways… jeopardising the longstanding plans of the Eden Valley and Stainmore railways to connect their operations…
….and after a sustained campaign by railway heritage groups, an enforcement notice was issued, requiring the removal of 1,600 tonnes of stone and concrete….
National Highways has now confirmed that the work cost £352,000, almost three times the £124,000 spent on the original in-fill scheme.
