All the road surfacing on the two lifting leaves of the bridge has been removed with work starting today on putting down a new layer of tarmac.

A sub-layer of waterproofing material protecting the bridge’s steelwork has already been removed and replaced.

Poole Borough Council is now expecting the bridge to open to traffic in early April.

The full opening was postponed after final load testing revealed defects in a small section of road surface on both lifting leaves.

Jim Bright, Strategic Director, Borough of Poole, said: “Once the defect was revealed we agreed with our contractors that the best and immediate course of action should be to remove and replace all the road surface on the lifting sections of the bridge.

“This surfacing and a layer of waterproofing beneath it has now been removed. Ramboll, who lead the bridge design team, have come forward with a revised solution for the road surfacing.

“Following extensive discussions and input from independent experts from the Transport Research Laboratory, we’ve agreed a new specification that will see the road surface laid in a single layer rather than in multiple layers as it was originally set down.

“This eliminates the layer where the defect was observed.

“The bridge will open to traffic as soon as the council is fully satisfied that the outstanding work has been successfully completed.

“It is too early to give a definitive date but we are cautiously optimistic that the Twin Sails Bridge will open to traffic in early April.”