A BRIDGE which was closed for strengthening work is to reopen on Monday.

Bollihope Ford Bridge, between Stanhope, in Weardale, and Egglestone, in Teesdale, needed reinforcing to bear the weight of 40-tonne lorries.

A £41,000 strengthening scheme involved demolishing and replacing the existing bridge deck, new parapets, waterproofing, resurfacing and reinstatement of the verges