On Monday 20 September work will start on Ferry Bridge to refurbish its joints and re-waterproof its deck.
Due to the limited space on the bridge during this work, temporary traffic lights will be in place and there will be a 10mph speed limit through the works area.
For four weeks, the county council will be working double shifts from 7am to midnight, during which time a quad bike will guide cars through the works area at the reduced speed.
The work includes:
- Removing the road surface all the way down to the bridge deck
- Taking out the kerbing
- Removing the old waterproof layer
- Refurbishing the expansion joints
- Inserting new rubber seals
- Installing new waterproof layer, new kerbing and whole new road from foundation to road surface
This work has to be carried out before July 2011 and waterproofing is extremely weather dependent. It was not feasible to carry it out over the summer months and so that has left a very small window of opportunity to carry out the work now, or at Easter.
It was felt that it was better to do the work after the summer holidays rather than during the Easter break.
Weymouth Transport Package for the 2012 Games 
September 7, 2010 at 9:48 am |
How long for?
This will mean all Portland traffic will face multiple hold-ups.
Next Easter would have been much better.
September 7, 2010 at 12:26 pm |
Hi Stuart,
The work is scheduled to last for four weeks.
September 7, 2010 at 2:32 pm |
Ferrybridge Repairs.
You really have got to be joking. Isn’t there enough chaos already?
We have had mile plus long queues through Weymouth for months now
When asked for comments two years ago I mentioned the problems with only one road onto the island. Not only did I get no reply, but I am aware of many other people who wrote in similar terms and also got no reply.
When Ferrybridge collapsed a number of years ago, a temporary bridge was put over the Fleet. Why not do the same now?
We had the Beach road resurfaced just a few months ago, even though it was in a far better state of rerpair than many in this area, and that caused chaos, even though it was carried out out of the”Rush Hour”. Why was this new work not carried out then? The new proposal quotes work going from 0700 hrs. to midnight. Why not midnight to 0700 hrs.?
September 14, 2010 at 4:05 pm |
Hi Keith,
A temporary bridge would cost at least twice as much as the essential work we plan to undertake and the areas alongside the existing road have protected environmental status, which would make planning permission unlikely for any temporary structure.
Also, all the services to the island run in the verges, and these would need to be protected, possibly diverted, to allow vehicles to run over them to get onto a temporary bridge.
This would cause disruption to traffic in order for the bridge to be tied-in with the existing road and then disconnected at the end of the work.
Working midnight to 7am would not be cost effective or value for money for Dorset residents. Also, it is not possible to have equipment and material delivered during these hours and this would slow down the works, making the disruption last longer.
September 7, 2010 at 3:00 pm |
Why is it scheduled to coincide with Wessex Water’s major works in Fortuneswell? There will be very long queues from both.
September 8, 2010 at 8:16 am |
Hi Stuart,
The Ferry Bridge work is scheduled to finish a week before the Wessex Water work starts in the High Street on 25 October.
The temporary signals at Ferry Bridge will be manually controlled to try and minimise traffic disruption.
September 8, 2010 at 8:36 am |
Wessex Water’s signs in Fortuneswell say their works start on 20 September. Glad they are wrong.
September 8, 2010 at 11:29 am |
With the frequent and long delays currently experinced by all Portland traffic due to the Weymouth works, can you not postpone the Ferry Bridge operation to Easter 2011?
I think it’s asking for trouble to do it at the same time.
WW’s signs still say 20/9/10.