At the end of April 2010 at large vehicle tried to go under the bridge in Three Cherry Trees Lane, Hemel Hempstead, Herts. Unfortunately as the lorry was taller than the height restriction of 13ft and it did considerable damage to the bridge.
Rosemary Scott and Tina Howard who are residents of nearby Woodhall Farm Estate noticed the deck, which weighs 15 tons, had been moved and looked extremely dangerous. After a lot of unsuccessful attempts with the local council to get something done they managed to get a surveyor from Herts Highways to examine the damage; he immediately closed Three Cherry Trees Lane until the deck was removed some six months later.
On October 19th 2010 the deck was lifted off using a mobile crane and loaded onto a suitable trailer and then driven the short distance up to Edwards Old Calor Gas Compound for repair. This then allowed the road to be opened again.
At the beginning of August 2011 the road was closed again, to allow the retaining walls and bridge to be repaired. The retaining walls had bricks removed to allow long anchor bolts to be put in the embankments to support the walls. The bricks were then replaced and the cracks were repaired. The deck itself was stripped of paint, rust etc and repainted.
After all this work was carried out, on 19th August 2011 the deck was loaded back onto the lorry trailer, moved back into position in Three Cherry Trees Lane where the mobile crane very skilfully lifted the deck back into position over the lane. Lights were fitted to illuminate the signs which state the maximum height restriction. This re-instated the Nickey Line walkway.
We would like to thank the workmen for being very accommodating , allowing us to photograph and film all stages of the work that was done, and Mr Lionel Howard for his help with photographs and input with the documentation.
You can watch the video that was made by following this link http://youtu.be/fhAlX41vlkI
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