National Highways has postponed this weekend’s planned installation of a bridge as part of the A30 Chiverton to Carland Cross upgrade.

The A30 was due to be fully closed this weekend between the Boxheater junction and Chiverton Cross roundabout to enable the installation of a new Tolgroggan accommodation bridge.This closure has now been lifted and the operation will be pushed back a week to the weekend of February 10 to 13 to allow for further preparatory work.

Costain, National Highways’ principal contractors for the road upgrade, have identified unsuitable ground conditions for the lifting operation and the new bridge will now be installed the following weekend.

Neil Winter, National Highways’ Senior Project Manager for the A30 Chiverton to Carland Cross scheme, said: “Our contractors have detected unsuitable ground conditions for the crane deployment, and we have taken the decision to put back the bridge installation by a week to ensure everything is right for what will be a large-scale lifting operation.

“Adverse weather, a mixture of heavy rainfall and low temperatures, hasn’t helped recently, these circumstances are out of our control, and the safety and effectiveness of the operation are our primary concerns.

“Although we would have preferred to lift the bridge deck in place this coming week, we have allowed contingency in our programme, and decided to postpone to the following weekend to ensure that everything is in place ahead of the installation operation, and to give people as much notice as we can.

“The extra time will improve the ground in terms of firmer footings for the crane operation, and we’re confident a slight delay will help the teams with that, without impacting on our future road opening date.

“We apologise for any confusion caused by the postponement of this weekend’s closure but we understand that people need to plan their journeys and feel we need to show due diligence in making sure everything is 100 per cent.”