Work is progressing to fix Weymouth's historic Town Bridge - and it's on track to finish on time despite problems.

Nine weeks of work on the 92-year-old bridge commenced at the end of September.

It's a major job to fix cracking welds which attach the steel decks plates on to the bridge beams.

A full road closure is in place although one footway remains open for pedestrians and the bridge is still lifting for boats going in and out of Weymouth Harbour (below).

Dorset Echo:

The bridge has become a construction site with most of it fenced off and tents erected over the work area to ensure the repairs can continue in poor weather.

Earlier this year, Dorset Council carried out testing on a section of the bridge – with part of the road surface removed to inspect the welds – after cracking was found in the road surface mirroring the welds and indicating a potential issue.

The bridge has more than 2,700 welds and the council said from the sample inspected, it was likely that 25 per cent of them are affected and need replacing.

This programme of work aims to repair welds on half of the bridge with a second phase of work on the remaining section next year.

Dorset Echo:

The bridge remains open to pedestrians

In an update last week, a council spokesman said: “The surfacing has been stripped and weld repairs are underway on the first quarter of the deck.

"We found there were a few more welds affected on the first quarter than estimated. The second quarter is due to be stripped (end of last week).

"The milling of the welds is currently taking a little longer than estimated, so we are taking steps to bring in a second milling machine for an extra week for the repairs to the second quarter. We are, therefore, still aiming to finish repair work to half of the bridge deck by the end of November."

Dorset Echo:

Meanwhile, town and Dorset councillor Jon Orrell said: "The Town Bridge is a fine old structure and quite a scene when it opens. "I'm glad that it's being repaired. Doing so out of the main tourist season and before the winter freeze makes sense. Obviously the sooner it's done, the better. However the job is worth doing well."