It underwent minor repair work in the 1980s, after which it was repainted from its original black into a colour scheme intended to enhance its features.

It is maintained by the Canal and River Trust and lends its name to the nearby Smethwick Galton Bridge railway station.

One of the major obstacles on the route was a patch of high ground at Smethwick, roughly 4 miles (6.4 kilometres) north-west of Birmingham.

The bridge was named after Samuel Tertius Galton, a local businessman and major investor in the Birmingham Canal Company.

[4][5] Three local roads were severed by the work, two of which were replaced with traditional masonry bridges, but Roebuck Lane was to cross the cutting at its widest and deepest point.

[1][6] Telford was a pioneer in the use of cast iron and became famed for his bridges and aqueducts using the material, which he discovered could be used to create wider spans than had previously been possible using brick or stone.

[4][7] Cast iron is brittle under tension but strong under compression; in bridge construction, it tended to be used in arch form.

Telford wrote that "the proportion of masonry is small, and produces variety by its appearance of lightness, which agreeably strikes every spectator.

The span is a masonry arch but the railway company built an iron parapet in keeping with the Galton Bridge.

A much wider road (the A4252) was built and the Galton Bridge was closed to vehicles but continues to carry pedestrians and cyclists.

Instead of constructing a new bridge, the 1970s engineers partly filled in the cutting and built a concrete tunnel for the canal, which was reduced in width.

[4][18][20] The bridge underwent minor structural repair work in 1987 and was repainted in colour to enhance its features; before this, it had always been painted black.

[21] An inspection using ropes to access the underside in the 2000s established that the bridge was in excellent condition and that the 1980s paint work had survived well.