I have further been in contact with Highways England about the A52 Clifton Bridge.
Highways England is working closely with Government to keep strategic roads operating safely throughout the coronavirus outbreak, as the bridge repair programme moves forward.
Since the 20th March they have made good progress including:
- Completing structural investigations while adhering to social distancing guidelines.
- Continuing structural calculations and detailed design work as planned, with their team of engineers working from home.
- Beginning preparations for installing the construction site compound with social distancing measures.
- A public liaison officer specifically for the A52 Clifton Bridge repair scheme has now joined Highways England, to ensure they engage fully with local stakeholders and communities impacted by the bridge works.
In terms of a detailed programme:
- The phasing of the work is critical and will likely be in two stages (see infographic).
- Stage 1: They are aiming to fix one side of the structure to the left of the lane currently being used by traffic first, to get more lanes back open.
- Stage 2: They will then fix the right-hand side of the bridge to enable us to reopen the fourth (outside) lane westbound.
- They are now working with the contractor delivering the repair scheme, to ensure that the proposed programme timeline is robust and will allow east bound lane capacity to increase at the earliest opportunity.
If you would like to keep up to date with progress on the A52 works you can do so on Twitter at @HighwaysEMIDS or by calling 0300 123 5000.