Further overnight closures of the westbound carriageway on the A14 at Orwell Bridge in Ipswich will take place this coming weekend. The closures on Saturday 5 July and Sunday 6 of July are required to safely install replacement bridge joints. Significant work to then set the new joints in place will be carried out in the coming days.

Work to remove the existing joints is now nearing completion. The new joints will be transported to site later this week and will be lowered into place by crane over the weekend.

Closures of the westbound carriageway on Monday 7 July and Tuesday 8 July have been scheduled for contingency reasons, should there be any unforeseen issues when the joints are lowered into place over the weekend.

Martin Fellows, National Highways’ regional director, said:

“We have made good progress working around the clock to carry out work to replace the joints on the westbound carriageway of the Orwell Bridge. Again, I would like to thank everyone affected by the works for their patience.

“We remain on target to complete the works next month, so people’s continued understanding is greatly appreciated. Please continue to remain on the A14 if your intended journey is beyond the town and the immediate surrounding areas.”

To enable the works to be completed safely this weekend, the westbound contraflow lane heading towards Cambridge will be closed between 8pm and 6am on Saturday 5 July and Sunday 6 July.

Traffic will be diverted between Junction 58 at the Seven Hills Interchange and Junction 55, the Copdock Interchange, via the A1214 when the closures are in place.

The eastbound carriageway heading towards Felixstowe will remain open under contraflow.

Planned closures on Monday 7 July and Tuesday 8 July will only be used for contingency purposes. We will issue further updates should one or both of these closures be required.

(Pic: Paul Hutton)