Kim BriscoeMotorists, boaters and pedestrians are being warned of a month of disruption as maintenance work is carried out on a river bridge in the city.Kim Briscoe

Motorists, boaters and pedestrians are being warned of a month of disruption as maintenance work is carried out on a river bridge in the city.

Carrow Road river bridge will be closed to road traffic for a weekend as part of the routine maintenance that will take up to a month.

Because the bridge needs to be light enough to lift, it is partly constructed of wooden deck panels which need to be replaced and it also has to be resurfaced on a regular basis.

The works, from June 14 to July 15, will include the replacement of the deck panels in the centre of the carriageway, and this will require a weekend closure to vehicles.

This is currently scheduled to take place from early Saturday morning on June 19, until Sunday afternoon on June 20, but may be postponed if significant rain is forecast.

Any decision to postpone is likely to be taken at short notice, probably on Friday lunchtime, in which case the following weekend of June 26 and 27 will be used, or July 3 and 4 if a further postponement is necessary.

During the weekend closure traffic will be diverted primarily via the inner ring road. Warning signs will also be placed on the Southern Bypass and Trowse Bypass.

Vehicular access to the Riverside Swimming Pool and Wherry Road and Geoffrey Watling Way apartments will be maintained from Koblenz Avenue. In the event of unexpected complications the bridge may remain closed to vehicles beyond Sunday afternoon, but will be open to road traffic no later than 6am the next (Monday) morning. Some of the closure time is to allow materials to harden before they can take traffic loading.

Other elements of the work, including painting and footway maintenance, will affect river traffic and pedestrians.

Scaffolding on the south-east downstream side will restrict the headroom for vessels, but no lower than at Trowse Railway Bridge (downstream) and Norwich Foundy Bridge (upstream).

Vessels requiring a bridge lift will be unable to pass, however, and there may be delays to river traffic at certain times. All vessels are asked to approach with care and look for advisory signs.

The pedestrian footway on the south-east side of the bridge will be closed from, or soon after, Monday, June 14, for five weeks to allow replacement of the wooden footway deck panels, and for repainting trials on part of the bridge. Access to Carrow Road from the Riverside walk will also be closed. The footway will be reopened by July 15.

The last full closure for this type of work was in July 2009.

Do you have a story for the Evening News? Contact reporter Kim Briscoe on 01603 772419 or email kim.briscoe@archant.co.uk.