Work is progressing well on a multi-million pound maintenance programme on Jubilee Bridge in Barrow.
Cumbria County Council is investing £4.5m in the essential maintenance works which will extend the life of the bridge by many years.
Much of the work over recent months has been taking place under the bridge (see images attached) and has involved installing scaffolding, carrying out repairs to steelwork and concrete and repainting the bridge.
The county council’s main contractor, Story Contracting, is carrying out these works.
The repair and painting works are scheduled to move on to Spans 5 and 6 (see image below) of the bridge from Monday 7 October.
Based on the understanding of the existing condition of Spans 5 and 6, it will be necessary to reduce the number of lanes of traffic crossing the bridge at this point from three lanes to two lanes while scaffolding is in place under the bridge. The temporary lane closure is needed to ensure the structure’s safe loading capacity is not exceeded. Therefore, westbound traffic will be reduced from two lanes to one lane over Spans 5 and 6 (only) of the bridge from Monday 7 October.
David Haughian, Programme Lead for Cumbria County Council, said: “Until our contractor has blasted each span to expose the steelwork, it’s not possible to fully understand the structure’s condition and the full extent of the repairs. The council anticipates this lane closure is likely to be required until at least Christmas.
“We recognise the lane closure will result in congestion and from Monday we will be doubling the ‘green light’ time allowed for traffic crossing from Barrow to Walney during peak hours. This should help reduce the level of congestion experienced at the busiest times of the day.”
