The A52 Clifton Bridge in Nottingham may reopen ahead of schedule despite work originally expected to take longer.
The bridge has been partially closed since February due to corrosion in its steel structure and Highways England previously said it was unlikely to reopen before next year but now believes it could happen sooner, possibly by the end of the autumn.
Regional director Catherine Brookes said: “We are hoping that by the end of the year we’ll have four lanes in each direction. We’re trying to better that and I’d like to think we can possibly achieve more lanes outbound by the end of November.”
She said said investigation work had continued despite the coronavirus lockdown and the operation was now moving to a new phase in which sections of steel and concrete would be replaced. “It [coronavirus] hasn’t made any difference to the speed at which we’ve been able to do this work,” she said.
“Some of the investigation work needed to be carried out inside hollow boxes which required people being in confined spaces close together, in a dark, dusty, damp environment. It was very challenging at the beginning of the work but that was actually before the social distancing restrictions came into force, so we were quite lucky that we managed to get most of that work done.”
