AN ICONIC Wye Valley bridge connecting England with Wales is to be closed for two weeks for resurfacing.

The 180-year-old Bigsweir bridge which crosses the Wye just north of Llandogo is a pinchpoint on the main Wye Valley road. Diverting traffic during the "essential" works will be no easy task with drivers facing long journeys via winding country roads. Chepstow-bound traffic will be diverted round via Bream and Lydney. Traffic heading for Monmouth will be sent via Devauden and Trellech on the A4136. Businesses in Tintern, Llandogo and Redbrook will all feel the effect.

Andrew Prout of Gloucestershire Highways which is carrying out the work, said: "There will inevitably be some delays, but residents who need access to Bigsweir House can arrange it with the workforce on site. The improvements are essential and access to local businesses will be available at all times."

The bridge will first be closed next Monday (January 4) for three full days. After that, it will be closed from 8.30am to 3.30pm with temporary lights in place.

Cast in Merthyr Tydfil with a single span of 160ft, the bridge was opened in 1827 and crosses the extreme tidal limit of the Wye. It started life as a toll bridge, charging 6d for horse-drawn carriages, 1d for ped­estrians and varying charges for herds of cattle or sheep. Later, when the Wye Valley Railway was built, a station called St Briavels was constructed at the west end of the bridge.

Resurfacing could be the first sign of a long-awaited half million pound revamp for the rusting bridge, involving sandblasting and a complete re-paint in pale blue.

BIGSWEIR isn't the only bridge to close this month. A second in the middle of the Forest will be shut for more than two months from January 11.

Kidnalls, an old railway bridge on New Road just south of Whitecroft will be shut for essential works until March 19, cutting off the main route from Lydney past Norchard to Parkend.

Jenny Wilks from Gloucestershire Highways said: "The essential works will involve replacing the (steel) bridge decks with precast concrete beams. New parapets and approach safety barriers will also be installed.

Pedestrians will be able to cross during the works but drivers will be diverted along the B4321 via Coleford.