Motorists in Wales are set for disruption in the coming months due to essential work being carried out on the M48 Severn Bridge. Works are due to begin on the bridge, which connects England and Wales, in June and will take around eight months to complete.
National Highways, which is responsible for the bridge, said the "essential programme of work" was needed to carry out inspections of the suspension cables and tackle corrosion on the bridge, which has been open since 1966.
From June there will be long-term lane closures in place and the bridge will also be closed entirely over three weekends. Bristol Live reports that this will involve the closure of one lane westbound from the June 22 and one eastbound starting from July. During the period of closures vehicles over 2.9 metres wide will be prohibited from using the bridge.
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National Highways said the first full closure is planned for the weekend of June 25, with motorists being diverted across the M4 Prince of Wales Bridge. Work will include refurbishment and maintenance of many bridge expansion joints, carriageway surfacing repairs, blasting and painting of parapets and lighting column bases, and gulley and drain cleaning.
The road on the M48 Severn Bridge is much narrower than a typical motorway, giving less space to carry out maintenance. This means it is often closed more often than most other motorways.
