London Bridge to close for ‘vital’ repair work

London Bridge will close to general traffic for seven months so that “vital” repairs can be carried out.

The 47-year-old structure will be closed from March until October to all traffic except buses, licensed taxis, pedestrians and cyclists.

FM Conway will carry out essential maintenance and waterproofing for bridge owner City of London Corporation.

Work includes replacing the original protective waterproofing layer below the road surfacing, as well as replacing 24 bearings.

Other repairs to the 269m long concrete deck will be carried out at the same time, to minimise future disruption.

The programme will be carried out in two stages, with work to the western side of the bridge due to run from March until May and work on the eastern side to run from May until October.

Walking routes over London Bridge will be restricted to the east footpath during stage one, and to a combination of the west footpath and part of the east carriageway during stage two.

The existing crossing opened to traffic in 1973. It is a box girder bridge built from concrete and steel and replaced a 19th-century stone-arched bridge, which in turn replaced a 600-year-old stone-built structure. This was preceded by a succession of timber bridges, first built by the Romans.

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