Hammersmith Bridge Closed Southbound from 8am til 4pm

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Closures every day this week mean diversions for drivers and bus travellers

Hammersmith Bridge's southbound lane will be closed for emergency repairs from 8am till 4pm each day this week till Friday August 21.

Drivers are being diverted via Putney and Chiswick Bridges and bus routes 33, 72, 209, 282, 419 and 485 are also affected by the bridge repair works.

TfL advises passengers to speak to the driver before boarding or follow @TfLBusAlerts on Twitter.

You can also check your route here.

H&F Council says new, stronger beams and panels are being installed on the carriageway to protect against further damage.

" We apologise to road users who are being inconvenienced while these essential repairs are being undertaken, we hope to have everything back to normal soon," says Cllr Wesley Harcourt, H&F Council’s Cabinet Member for Environment, Transport and Residents' Services.

" Unfortunately Hammersmith Bridge is a very old structure that was never designed to cope with today’s high volumes and weight of traffic."

The bridge carriageway surface is made from almost 1,000 steel and wooden plates which are bolted on top of wooden beams. Heavy vehicles put a lot of stress on these plates, which causes the damage and has led to both the plates and beams wearing out faster than expected.

The replacement strengthened panels will fix the problem ahead of a full refurbishment of the bridge's carriageway scheduled for summer 2016.

 

August 17, 2015