CONSTRUCTION work on the new £44m A34 Wolvercote viaduct will enter its final stage this weekend.

More than 18 months after work began to replace the worn-out 1960s Oxford bypass viaduct, contractors will lift the deck of the new southbound carriageway into place.

The Highways Agency is replacing the current viaduct because engineers decided further repairs to the structure would not be cost-effective.

The new southbound deck has already been surfaced with concrete and asphalt and will be lifted into place by a 500-tonne crane tomorrow night and Sunday night, when a road diversion will be in place along the road. To allow the work to take place, the A34 southbound between the Pear Tree and Botley interchanges will be closed overnight from 7pm tomorrow until 1pm on Sunday.

The A34 northbound will then be closed between the same locations from 10pm on Sunday, with a scheduled reopening at 6am on Monday.