A date has been set for Lady Bay Bridge to fully reopen to motorists. Subject to a final safety inspection, drivers will be able to travel in both directions on the bridge from 12pm on Saturday, August 20 with the final stage of repair works coming to a close on Friday, August 18.
The bridge was shut on Monday, July 4 after a lorry crashed off it and a "complex clean-up operation" was then carried out. This included the installation of temporary concrete barriers to allow the bridge to reopen in one direction on July 11, before structural scaffolding was put in place to rebuild the parapet using heritage materials. The final stage of works will be the installation of the new safety barrier on the bridge.
The council say that, ahead of the full reopening, a full closure of Lady Bay Bridge will be needed from 6am on Saturday to remove the temporary barriers and final preparations to be carried out. Once this is complete, the bridge will reopen in both directions.
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Neil Hodgson, Director of Design at Via East Midlands, told Nottinghamshire Live: "There's been a lot of work, a lot of organisation to do when the bridge was struck there was an immediate clear up to try and get the traffic back on it as quick as we reasonably could and make sure it was safe."
Councillor Neil Clarke MBE, Cabinet Member for Transport and Environment, said: “It is excellent news that Lady Bay Bridge will fully reopen this weekend. We would like to thank motorists for their patience whilst we have been working to make the bridge safe and get it reopen as soon as possible.
“I am pleased that we’ve been able to do this well ahead of the original 12 week schedule we had in place, and I know that the reopening will be good news for local residents, businesses and anyone travelling into and around the area.
“It is also great news for those travelling to sporting events in the area, and while we do need to fully close the bridge for a few hours on Saturday morning, we will have this reopen ahead of fixtures at Trent Bridge Cricket Ground and Meadow Lane later on that day.
“Given the local heritage of the bridge, materials were sourced which matched the existing style. The parapet has also been rebuilt to replicate the previous design and wherever possible we reused materials. I’d also like to thank all teams involved in the repair of the bridge for their hard work to get the bridge reopen ahead of schedule.”
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