POOLE’S old lifting bridge will close for a week from Monday, September 22, for planned maintenance to be carried out.

The 87-year-old bridge will be shut to all road traffic, including cyclists and pedestrians, from 7am and all traffic will be diverted over the Twin Sails Bridge.

Borough of Poole says there will be no significant disruption to marine traffic.

Work to be carried out on Poole Bridge includes inspection and maintenance of gear boxes, drive motors and other mechanical items, servicing lubrication system compressors, refurbishment of bridge bearings, repair and adjustment of nose bolts and changing lamps.

Four CCTV cameras that are no longer serviceable will be replaced, as will damaged copper cladding on the bridge towers and underwater ducts damaged by the winter storms will be re-secured.

While the bridge is closed and there is less traffic, the developer of the former Pilkington site intends to carry out some work in Blandford Road. Temporary traffic signals will be used to manage the traffic with manual control at peak times.

John Rice, engineering manager, Borough of Poole said: “We want to keep our lifting bridges operating efficiently and reliably in the long term and to achieve this we need to carry our preventative maintenance in a planned way.

“By closing Poole Bridge outside of peak times in the year we will be able to minimise disruption to residents who will always have one bridge available.”

Both lifting bridges require maintenance to reduce the risks of breakdown and the council says it is becoming increasingly expensive to carry out work overnight. And working in September and March avoids winter conditions which can delay progress.

The annual closure of the Twin Sails Bridge will take place next March for up to a week.