Broughton Bridge

Broughton Bridge is an inverted suspension bridge built in the mid to late 19th century, which re-uses earlier 19th-century abutments and features 20th-century rebuilt inner piers. It was constructed for the Commissioners of the Ancholme Drainage and Navigation. The bridge is made of wrought iron with timber decking, cast-iron railings, and yellow brick abutments that have sandstone ashlar dressings.

It has a single span with a single carriageway width, and the abutments are set on sloping riverbanks. Each abutment features a blind segmental arch between a pair of inner piers, which have chamfered plinths and moulded cornices at deck level. The upper piers house the bridge anchorages and are flanked by coped dwarf walls and railings leading to similar outer piers at the roadway entrances.

The bridge span consists of two arched ribs supported by vertical and diagonal suspension rods. The main vertical rods are bolted to the ends of transverse iron bearers that support the plank deck, while the diagonal rods are welded to continuous plates. The bridge features scrolled cast-iron railings from the inner piers to the central arch, a fret balustrade between the outer piers, and plain rails on the main span bolted onto the suspension rods.

Broughton Bridge may have replaced an earlier 19th-century wooden bridge designed by Alfred Atkinson, who was the engineer for the Ancholme Navigation. The deck suspension arrangements are similar to those used at Sir John Rennie's Horkstow Bridge, built between 1834 and 1835. It is a well-designed and well-built bridge that remains largely unaltered, apart from minor repairs to the deck and abutments.