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explained.

“This stops paint dust and metal flakes escaping. The paint we’re stripping dates back decades and needs careful treatment and the dust taken away as it’s not environmentally friendly.

“The scale of the scaffolding is huge, and not suitable for wheeling anywhere, even if there was a location nearby where it could be wheeled.”

If the work was undertaken by utilising a cherry picker instead of scaffolding, the paint would only have a 15-year lifespan, rather than 25. This means Network Rail would return in 2038 to restore the bridge, rather than 2048.

“It’s just a big job,” he continued. “The structure gets blasted back to bare metal and then we work through it treating any corrosion or repairing sections that need it.

CAUSE OF DELAYS: The railway bridge at the Suttons Seeds roundabout is to be repainted over a three-month period. The works started on Monday and are causing long delays for motorists Pictures: Phil and Judith Creighton

“Once that’s done we can get on with painting it – four coats of paint, which all need to dry fully before being painted over.

“Then we have to take the whole work site apart and move it over the other side of the road, which takes a week each time.”

Mr Denham said the timescale includes a contingency, in case the bridge throws up some surprises.

As to why the work cannot be done off-site, he said: “There are no panels that can be removed, it’s a solid steel structure.”

But he also promised that the end result will be worth it.

“We’ll also renew the pigeon proofing etc, so Reading gets a much better looking bridge back.”

... And Three Tuns crossroads will be closed next week

RESIDENTS already affected by the works to repair a railway bridge are being warned to watch out for road closures on another key route between Reading and Wokingham.

On Monday, Network Rail started a three-month project to repaint and restore the bridge over the A4 London Road.

To accommodate the works, just a single lane of traffic is open.

Four-way traffic lights have been set up, taking into account a bus lane off the A3290, as well as traffic going to and from Reading.

This has caused major delays for many motorists, and next week it will be worse as the work has started during half-term.

Motorists are also being warned of a second set of works which will close the Wokingham Road at its junction with Wilderness Road –the Three Tuns crossroads.

This is to allow Openreach to carry out the installation of new cables as part of the ongoing work to boost broadband speeds in the region.

The work runs from Monday, February 20, through to Thursday,

February 23.

The only glimmer of light for motorists is the closures are overnight, although that won’t be much comfort for people living in the surrounding houses as the work takes place.

The roads will be shut from 10pm to 5am on each of the days of the work.

A spokesperson for Wokingham Borough Council said: “Our Streetworks team think it is unlikely to cause too much congestion, even though the Network Rail works are also happening.” n For more details, log on to: https://one.network/?GB132671330