Ramsey’s swing bridge will be closed for a lot longer than first anticipated.
Planned maintenance work began in September and was expected to be completed by Christmas.
But this week it was revealed by the Department of Infrastructure that the condition of part of the internal mechanism of the bridge is worse than expected – and it’s now hoped that the work will be completed by the end of March.
At the beginning of the project, engineers from the DoI aimed to repair damaged and worn parts of the mechanism, after it was discovered operational parts of the bridge were misaligned.
However, during the opening up and dismantling of the structure, they found that the construction of the central pier was not as indicated on the record drawings and that the condition of the operating mechanism was worse than expected.
This resulted in the need to undertake additional works to the stone pier and a need to reassess the work required to repair the operating mechanism.
The bridge deck was lifted earlier this month following extensive strengthening of the central stone pier and work to dismantle the operating mechanism is progressing.
The DoI apologises for the continued inconvenience caused by the works and thanked residents for their patience.
