The wallet contains papers relating to the construction of a bridge across the River Mersey linking Carrington on the Cheshire side with Flixton in Lancashire. The river had previously been spanned by a small iron-girder bridge but this was declared unsafe in 1901, and a new crossing was considered essential to facilitate direct communication between Carrington and the expanding towns on the Lancashire side. The project was supported by the Stamford Trustees as being vital for the development of the Carrington and Dunham Massey estates. The Trustees agreed to construct a new approach road linking the bridge with Carrington village, and they were also responsible for the reinforcement of the banks on the Cheshire side of the river.
The scheme was delayed by disagreement between Lancashire and Cheshire County Councils, the Stamford Trustees and others over the apportionment of legal costs, and by the death of the Countess of Stamford & Warrington in 1905. Lancashire County Council was responsible for the design and construction of the bridge, the costs being shared between the County Councils, Flixton Parish Council and Manchester Corporation. The new bridge collapsed during its construction in 1906 but was completed in 1910. Soon after the bridge opened cracks appeared in its structure. Lancashire and Cheshire County Councils attributed the damage to the failure of piling installed by the Stamford Trustees upstream of the bridge on the Cheshire side of the river. In their defence the Trustees commissioned an engineer to examine the bridge and banks, who claimed that faulty design and workmanship in the bridge's construction were to blame.
The wallet contains five files of correspondence relating to the construction of the bridge and approach roads, 1901-1913 (EGR14/16/19/1-254); a draft agreement for the construction of the bridge and counsel's opinion thereon, 1904 (/255-256); a specification and quantities for the new road in Carrington and a statement of the Stamford Trustees' account with the contractor, 1904 & 1910 (/257-258); photographs of the bridge and river banks, 1911 (/259-266); and plans of the bridge and approach roads, 1903-1904 (/267-272).