Motorists are being advised to expect lane closures during the night time hours as work begins to repair the US-12 bridge where it crosses South 11th Street, also known as M-51, in Niles Township next week.

Nick Schirripa, communications representative for the Michigan Department of Transportation, said construction is scheduled to start in the evening of Monday, May 23, and continue through June 10.

A single lane will be closed in each direction on South 11th Street in the area of the bridge during nighttime hours (after the evening rush), but both lanes will remain open during the day.

Work is not expected to affect traffic on the bridge.

Schirripa said MDOT has contracted with the Anlaan Corporation to make repairs to the bridge, which was damaged when an excavator that was being hauled on a flat-bed trailer struck the bridge in March of 2015. A second excavator hit the bridge again in February of 2016.

Schirripa said workers would apply heat and pressure to make the beams malleable enough to be straightened.

“The $271,000 project is being paid for by the company that owns the truck that hit the bridge,” Schirripa said in an email. “We actually pay for the work first, then the owner’s insurance will reimburse us.”