;evern Bridge shrink
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ate closures are likely to me into force again on the !vern Bridge this spring.
All this week lanes have en closed while engineers 5pect the road surface, and it expected that the survey will veal damage needing urgent pairs. But any work required nnot start until the weather [proves, and that means ring.
Repairs, and hence lane )sures, take longer on the vern Bridge than on a nor11 road because the surface laid on metal and has to be ipped away by hand. Wear and tear on the road has been accelerated by the recent bad weather conditions, the worst since the bridge opened. A Department of Transport spokesman said: "The road surface is in any case near the end of its life.
"The bridge is almost 13 years old, and when it was laid, the surface had an expected life of about 15 years. We are trying to keep it going for two or three years but then the whole thing will have to be done."
The Department of Transport is trying to avoid interrupting Easter holiday traffic.