A further £20,000 is to be spent on repairs to Norwich's defective Carrow Bridge amid growing uncertainty over the long-term future of the 102-year-old structure.
The bridge, close to Norwich City Football Club's Carrow Road ground, is due to shut so Norfolk County Council can carry out work to the timber decking, after an inspection revealed defects.
But the project is only a temporary fix and officials at County Hall are still hoping for a long-term solution, so the authority can reduce how much it has to regularly spend to maintain the crossing.
In 2021, the council's Conservative-controlled cabinet agreed to spend £150,000 to fix the bridge, which lifts to allow vessels to pass on the River Wensum beneath it, into place.
The thinking was that welding it in place would cut maintenance costs, because deck panels regularly have to be fixed because they are shaken loose by traffic.
But that plan was blocked by the Broads Authority, which said it would be "totally unacceptable" to weld the bridge shut.
The organisation said the Norwich Corporation Act 1920 states the bridge must be able to open to allow vessels to get to the port of Norwich, so the welding plan was put on ice.
The impasse means County Hall has to regularly spend money to repair the timber, racking up a bill of more than £200,000 over the past eight years.
The county council said it is continuing to talk to the Broads Authority about the longer-term future for the bridge.
At one point, the council had considered spending more than £2m on a three-month repair scheme which would allow the bridge to keep lifting, but ruled it out because of the cost.
One scenario, which could potentially enable the bridge to be welded shut, would be if a new marina for Norwich is created downstream of the bridge.
Such a marina has been mooted as part of the East Norwich Masterplan, proposals to regenerate the area around the Deal Ground, Utilities Site and the former Colman's site.
Council leaders hope that could satisfy the legal requirement of access to the port of Norwich for boats and revive their plans for Carrow Bridge.
In the meantime, the latest repair work is due to take place, depending on the weather, on Thursday, July 31 and Friday, August 1 or on Thursday, August 7 and Friday, August 8.
On each day, the bridge and the road will be closed between 7pm and 5am, with diversions in place.
History of Carrow Bridge
The current Carrow Bridge was opened in 1923 by Edward, then the Prince of Wales.
His abdication as king 13 years later sparked a constitutional crisis.
Construction on the bridge had begun in 1920, through the unemployed relief work scheme, which was set up in the aftermath of the First World War.
The current bridge replaced one which was a few hundred feet further downstream, which linked Carrow Hill to the north-eastern end of Carrow Road.
That iron bascule bridge had been built in 1833, replacing one - probably made of wood - which had been constructed in 1810.
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