The Manchester and Leeds Railway was built and passed through by 1840. As part of the construction a new cut was made in the Calder bypassing a sharp bend in the river, which in the course of the work severed the road to the mill. This resulted in a legal complaint from the owners of Healey New Mill which lay on the part of the Calder that would be bypassed. The courts found in the railway company's favour. A five arch bridge was built to carry the line over the new cut. Due to the delay in construction because of the court case, when the railway was opened, the Calder was crossed by a temporary wooden bridge. In 1851 the railway's owners announced that they planned to divert the river down the new cut, but the plan was never realised and a three span bridge was built replacing the wooden bridge.