The QEII Bridge will be closed overnight while routine maintenance work is carried out.

The closures will be in place to allow bridge bearings – essential bridge components that allow the structure to expand and contract with changes in temperature – to be replaced.

The work had been planned for last weekend but couldn’t be completed due to unforeseen circumstances.

The is being carried out overnight, when traffic flows are lowest, to minimise disruption.

The closures were in place between 11pm last night and 6am today. They will be brought back in between 10pm tonight and 6am tomorrow.

Traffic will be stopped briefly while the contraflow is set up and removed.

Southbound traffic will be diverted to use the east tunnel. As a result, a height restriction of 4.8 metres will be in place for northbound traffic during the closures.

The southbound entry slip road at junction 31 will be closed due to the contraflow being in place. A diversion will be in place via junction 30.

There will be further disruption as a series of slow-moving, abnormal loads will be using the Dartford Crossing as part of their journey, including tomorrow.

Nine transformers are being moved overnight from Littlebrook Power Station to Thamesport on the Isle of Grain in Kent over the next couple of months.

The loads are too heavy to use the A206 Cotton Lane bridge over the A282 at junction 1a and therefore will need to use parts of the A282 and its crossovers to travel from the west side of the junction to the east side.

The loads will enter the northbound A282 the wrong way, via the northbound exit slip road.

They will travel northbound before then using the crossover from the northbound carriageway to the southbound, usually used when the tunnel is used for southbound traffic.

The load will then exit the A282 at junction 1a using the southbound exit slip road.

The loads will be moved over a series of weekends:

Sunday March, 20

Saturday, April 9

Sunday, April 17

Saturday, May 7

Sunday May 15

Sunday May 22.

Three more movements will be needed but those dates have yet to be finalised.

While the loads are moving across, traffic will be held for up to 30 minutes depending on the progress of the loads.

The loads are expected to be crossing the A282 around 9pm, subject to traffic conditions.

Meanwhile, parts of Medway will also be affected on Sunday, due to the same abnormal load.

The A228 Grain Road and the B2001 will close in the first of various disruptions over coming months.

There will also be delays on the Wainscott bypass and Four Elms Hill.

Drivers are advised to plan their journeys and allow extra time. Live traffic information is available from Highways England via its website.