Work to help plan essential maintenance work on one of Durham’s busiest road bridges is taking place this month (May).

Durham County Council will be carrying out investigation works on Milburngate Bridge and drivers are being warned to expect traffic disruption.

The work will take place on Sunday 10 and Sunday 17 May between 7am and 7pm.

Lane closures will be in place on the bridge between 4am and 9pm on the two days the work will be carried out.

Two lanes will remain open, allowing traffic to flow in both directions during the works.

Temporary closures of the footpaths may also be needed but only one will close at any time.

As part of the investigations, specialist testing will be carried on the concrete bridge joints and a number of trial holes will be drilled.

A noise impact assessment has been carried out and noise reduction measures will be put in place to ensure disruption to businesses and residents is kept to a minimum.

Allow extra time for journeys

John Reed, head of technical services at Durham County Council, said: “These investigation works are an essential part of the major maintenance scheme, which will begin in the summer.

“The findings will help us to ensure the maintenance work is carried out in the most efficient way in order to minimise disruption.

“We appreciate that this will cause some inconvenience to people using the bridge and we would ask people to be patient and allow extra time for their journeys during the work.”

The maintenance work in the summer, which is expected to start on Sunday 12 July, will include improvements to drainage, parapets and surfacing, concrete repairs and replacement waterproofing.