Tyne Bridge to close overnight for rest of week

THE Tyne Bridge is closing to traffic for five nights as multimillion-pound restoration works continue.

- NICOLE GOODWIN Reporter

Newly restored sections of the bridge are being unveiled as scaffolding surrounding the lower section of the arch on the bridge deck is set to be removed from the western footway.

Over the past six months, operatives have worked on the bridge’s parapets and underdeck behind the scaffolding to grit blast, repair and apply a specialist three-coat paint system, with the final coat in its distinctive hollybush green.

As this scaffolding sits next to live traffic, five overnight closures are required for sections of scaffolding to be safely removed.

The first of these was last night. For the rest of the week until Friday the bridge will close at 8pm and reopen at 6am, apart from tonight, when the closure will be delayed until 11.30pm to allow Newcastle United fans attending the Champions League match against Barcelona to get home. Access will remain open for pedestrians and cyclists throughout the closures.