THE Twin Sails Bridge is set to re-open this morning after shutting for two weeks while engineers investigated a fault.

The bridge is due to re-open to all traffic and operate on its current reduced lifting schedule after the 6.30am lift.

Over the last fortnight, work to extract a half-tonne pin from the rod end assembly, which forms part of the lifting mechanism, has been taking place.

On Friday, engineers from a specialist mechanical engineering company could be seen working on the faulty Hamworthy side of the bridge.

A pin from the hydraulics system appeared to have been removed, however the council was unable to confirm this work had been successful on Friday.

The bridge has been closed on and off since November last year due to the fault, which has still not been properly identified due to problems with removing the pin.

If the extraction has now been successful, the council will have a “clearer picture of the fault and the repairs needed”, a spokesperson said previously.

Replacement parts will then be ordered, and the bridge will need to be closed again so these parts can be installed and tested.

There is currently no timeframe for this work.

Meanwhile, the Hamworthy leaf will continue operating on a single cylinder mode, meaning the bridge will be lifted using one ram and function at half the usual speed.

Over the last two weeks, annual maintenance works have also been carried out to the bridge.