§ Mr. Boothasked the Secretary of State for Transport when the current remedial works to the Severn bridge will be completed and the bridge restored to unrestricted operation.
§ Mr. David HowellThe autumn programme of patching the surface of the bridge, which was combined with the replacement of defective hangers, was completed on 15 November. The lane closures in operation on weekdays between 4 and 8 am will continue until the bridge has been strengthened to a higher loading standard. The extent and timing of the engineering works cannot be decided until the final report is received from Flint and Neill, our consulting engineers.