Sauls Bridge carries the B1018 over the River Brain in Witham, Essex, on the main route south out of town towards Maldon. The bridge spans across the River Brain. The original structure was built in 1814 and is therefore a very early example of a arched cast iron structure still in use. The structure was listed in 1985 as a Grade II listed structure because of its age and the fact that it was designed by the eminent Victorian Engineer, Sir William Cubitt.

In 1955 a reinforced concrete extension was added on the western [upstream] side to carry a footway 1.73m wide and a 370mm wide brick parapet. The parapet on the East Side of the bridge still comprises the original 19th Century railing.

Proposals to reconstruct Sauls Bridge have existed since 1972. The 1994 study had proposed that the bridge be strengthened to bring its load capacity up to 40 tonnes.  English Heritage recognised the 1994 Option Study carried out by ECC but had a strong desire to see the original fabric of the bridge preserved. They pointed out that there had been no investigation in the study of non-destructive methods of strengthening.

Since it was clear by this time that the appearance and fabric of the bridge would have to be retained to satisfy the various conservation bodies involved, ECC instituted a further study in 2002 to look at ways of strengthening the deck without significantly changing the bridge’s appearance. 

H2Ox were called in to carry out strengthening using external Carbon Fibre Reinforced Polymer plates. A vertical alignment survey was carried out to each beam. This survey was then used by Sika Ltd to manufacture pre-shaped plates. The soffit of each beam was gritblasted to remove all loose materials and contaminants and H2Ox installed the plates utilizing special three way G clamps to support the plates independently during curing. Finally the bridge soffit was re-prepared and coated using a three part epoxy paint system from the Sika Icosit range.