Scaffolding is being removed from Jubilee Bridge in Barrow next week to allow boats to freely access the channel beneath.

Work has been continuing on a major improvement project on the road bridge, which has already included the completion of more than 1,000 repairs to the steelwork and re-painting most of the steel structure.

The extensive renovation work is now 95% complete and the remaining elements will be completed later in the year.

Under the terms of the Cumbria Act 1982, the highways authority is required to operate the bascule bridge from 1 May each year to allow access to the channel.

To ensure this happens the scaffolding for the improvement works will need to be dismantled. Work to remove the scaffolding will take place from Monday next week (24 April).

During the work to remove the scaffolding bridge users are advised that the southern footway will remain closed. Traffic lanes will remain open during this period although some narrowing may be required to ensure the safety of the workforce removing the scaffolding.

Any remaining works required around the opening span parts of the 115-year-old bridge will be completed after 31 October 2023.

At 350-metres in length, Jubilee Bridge is Cumbria’s longest road bridge and carries up to 24,000 vehicles daily on the only mainland crossing from Barrow to Walney Island.

Extensive repairs were needed because the old waterproofing of the bridge deck was failing and as a result water was seeping through the concrete deck and corroding the steel superstructure.

The renovations have been carried out by Westmorland and Furness Council’s contractor, Story Contracting, and the bridge has remained open to traffic and pedestrians throughout the project.

To maintain access for boats using the channel, the steelwork repairs, re-waterproofing of the bridge deck and painting work has been divided into several phases.

The original bridge plaque from 1935, when the bridge was renamed to Jubilee Bridge from its initial name of Walney Bridge (erected in 1908), has also been restored as part of the scheme.