NATIONAL Highways will close the M4 between Bristol and Bath every night next week as work to finish the new Badminton Road bridge progresses.
The motorway will shut from 9pm until 6am each night from Monday January 5 to Saturday January 10, to remove casings for some of the concrete parts of the bridge structure.
A National Highways spokesperson said: “We have made positive progress on the new bridge, with the new deck and parapet concrete poured.
“Moving forward, there will be a full week of overnight closures to allow us to remove the concrete casings at the start of January.
“Once removed, in January and February we will be undertaking earthworks and other work to move the bridge towards completion, before reconnecting it to the existing A432.
“All work in the new year is weather dependent, but we are on course to reopen the bridge in the spring.”
The old bridge next to the Wick Wick roundabout, which carried thousands of cars a day across the motorway on the A432 between Downend and Yate, was closed to motor traffic in July 2023 when an inspection discovered “accelerated deterioration and cracking” in the concrete.
It was demolished in March, and new steel beams that form the frame of the bridge were fitted during October, in the last of three weekend closures of the motorway.
Diversion during overnight closures
During the overnight closures, an official diversion for motorway traffic will be in place, following the same route as for previous closures using the M32, A4174 Avon Ring Road, A420 and A46:
Top photo: The concrete deck of the new bridge. Picture: National Highways