THE A12 at Colchester was closed for just over 12 hours while a temporary bridge was put in place – but reopened much earlier than plannedMotorists were facing traffic congestion as the dual carriageway was closed between the A133 Spring Lane interchange and the A120 Crown interchange.

By Annie Davidson

THE A12 at Colchester was closed for just over 12 hours while a temporary bridge was put in place – but reopened much earlier than planned

Motorists were facing traffic congestion as the dual carriageway was closed between the A133 Spring Lane interchange and the A120 Crown interchange.

The road closed at 10pm on Saturday and was not due to reopen until 5am today.

But the work was finished more quickly than expected and the A12 was open by 11.20am yesterday.

Traffic which was diverted off the A12 and through Colchester did not cause excessive congestion.

Sgt Chris Tyler, of Stanway Traffic Police, said traffic had been "fairly heavy" in Colchester yesterday morning but had caused no major problems.

The temporary bridge was moved into position between Colchester and West Bergholt to take traffic away from the existing B1508 Braiswick Road bridge which failed a structural assessment last year.

It was then given high priority for strengthening work by Essex County Council.

The Highways Agency moved the temporary steel bridge into place this weekend to take traffic while the repair work is carried out.

Drivers heading in and out of Colchester on the B1508 have already faced months of misery as the bridge was reduced to single lane and temporary traffic lights bought in after the fault was discovered.

The temporary bridge was brought in rather than the B1508 bridge being closed for lengthy periods while the work was carried out.

A spokesman for the Highways Agency said yesterday that the work had gone "very smoothly."

"The road opened about 20 hours earlier than expected," he said.

"We allowed ourselves plenty of time in case there were any problems but everything went very successfully."