The M48 Severn Bridge is set to be fully closed this week as months-long repair work completes. Eight months of painstaking work on the bridge began in June last year including repairing and replacing corroded suspension cables.
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. It has resulted in several weekend-long closures of the bridge, causing disruption for motorists.
National Highways has confirmed work will end this weekend with the removal of the remaining inspection gantries from the bridge using a crane.
The bridge will be fully closed in both directions from 7pm on Friday March 17 to 6am on Monday March 20. A fully signed diversion route will be in place, but please allow extra time for your journey.
The eastbound carriageway will then be overnight from 7pm on Monday March 20 to 6am Tuesday March 21 to remove the remaining lane one closure traffic management. From Tuesday March 21, the bridge will then be open with two lanes running in each direction.
Work has included 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.
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