City-bound lanes on a stretch of Waterworks Road at The Gap will be closed from early December until March 2015 to allow a $2.005 million facelift to a century-old, heritage-listed bridge.
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Waterworks Road is one of Brisbane's busiest roads, a key artery to the city's north-west.
Traffic will have to share the two remaining lanes – one lane in each direction - between early December until March 2015, while repairs are completed.
The Walton Bridge on Waterworks Road at The Gap dates back to 1900 and is of Brisbane's best-preserved older bridges.
Brisbane City Council has been inspecting the foundations and the supports of the bridge over the past three years and has made the decision to upgrade the bridge rather than replace it.
Brisbane City Council's Infrastructure Committee chairman Adrian Schrinner said the preliminary work would begin early in December and the main work completed during the school holidays.
"Walton Bridge dates back to 1900 and this project is part of council's ongoing review of the city's pre-1950 bridges to determine their structural condition and their ability to cope with current and future traffic loads," he said.
The work on the Walton Bridge includes resurfacing the asphalt deck slab with a new concrete deck, which will then have a new bitumen surface.
The approaches to the bridge will be repaired and water-proofed, and drainage improvements will be made to the bridge.
The bridge work and the city-bound road closures on Waterworks Road will be between 7am and 5pm, Monday to Saturday.
Cr Schrinner said the inspections and detailed studies showed the bridge does not need to be replaced.
"The current investigations have established the city-bound bridge only requires strengthening and resurfacing works to maintain and protect the life of this historic bridge going forward," Cr Schrinner said.
"New construction methodologies will allow the work to be completed over a reduced timeframe and cause significantly less impacts to residents and motorists."
Local councillor Geraldine Knapp said motorists would share the outbound bridge with one lane in each direction.
Pedestrians and cyclists will use the existing footpath on the outbound lanes.
The speed limit will be lowered to 40 kilometres per hour while the work is underway.
"Once the resurfacing is complete all weight restrictions will be lifted on the city-bound lanes of Walton Bridge," Cr Knapp said.
"I would like to thank residents in advance for their patience while these important works are carried out."
