THE Old Severn Bridge will be reduced to one lane until October from next week for inspection of the suspension cable.

Highways England will start the seven-month programme of lane closures on the M48 Severn Bridge to inspect the suspension cable supporting the bridge.

The inspection works involve the closure of lane one westbound between 7am on Monday (March 14) and 5pm on Friday, September 2, with lane one eastbound closed from 9.30am on Monday, May 16 until 9.30am Monday, October 17.

Chris Pope, project manager for Highways England, said: “To carry out these cable inspections and to ensure the safety of both the travelling public and our workforce, it will be necessary to put these long-term lane closures in place.”

During the period of lane closures, vehicles over 2.9 metres wide will be prohibited from using the M48 Severn Bridge, and the bridge will also be closed completely over four weekends to enable the lifting of an inspection gantry to a high level on the suspension cable. The first full closure is planned for the weekend of April 16-17.

Mr Pope added: “The inspections are vital to allow us to understand the current condition of the suspension cables and confirm that the measures that we implemented over the last 10 years have been effective in ensuring the long-term viability of the bridge and the safety of its users.

“We understand this work may cause some inconvenience and disruption, but we will make every effort to ensure the impact on drivers is kept to a minimum.

“We are working in conjunction with Severn River Crossing Plc, and the weekend closures have been planned to avoid any major events both sides of the bridge.”

Diversion routes across the M4 Second Severn Crossing will be in place for the duration of the weekend closures.