UP TO three closures a day could take place this week on the A31 at Ringwood as bridge demolition works continue.

Following demolition work to the western section of the bridge carrying the A31 over the River Avon, crews will begin removing the east section between Thursday June 9 and Saturday 11.

The large 750 tonne crane will return to site on Wednesday June 8 and will be set up to begin removing the bridge beams the next day.

Once each beam is ready to be removed, crews will carefully slow A31 westbound traffic in an enhanced mobile carriageway closure before moving the beam where it can be cut into pieces and removed from site.

National Highways says each traffic closure will take approximately 15 minutes and there will be between one to three closures each day. These will be carried out between 9.30am and 4pm to avoid peak traffic periods.

Similar temporary closures took place in mid-May.

In addition to the bridge demolition, the section of the A31 between the M27 J1 at Cadnam and A338 Ashley Heath junction will be closed overnight for several days for essential drainage work.

The closures will take place between 8pm and 6am on the following dates:

  • Westbound (towards Bournemouth) from Monday June 13 to Friday 17, with traffic diverted via A336, A326, A35, A3060, A338
  • Eastbound (towards Southampton) for five consecutive nights – dates to be confirmed, with traffic diverted via A338, A3060, A35, A326, A336

A spokesperson for National Highways said they apologise for “any inconvenience caused by these works”.

In order to stay on schedule, crews worked throughout the four-day Platinum Jubilee bank holiday last week. During this time, the floating platform was moved from the west section of the A31 River Avon bridge to the east section ahead of this week’s works.

The floating platform sits on the water and allows crews to access the underside of the bridge and catch any falling debris.

Residents or motorists with any questions are asked to email a31ringwood@nationalhighways.co.uk or call the Customer Contact Centre on 0300 123 5000. They are also encouraged to visit nationalhighways.co.uk for more information.