Weekday construction work starts this week on the drawbridge between the Captree and Fire Island Inlet bridges on the Robert Moses Causeway, officials said.

The Department of Transportation is overseeing preventative restoration work on the bridge, which was built over 50 years ago.

The drawbridge will also be closed to mariners until repairs are completed later in 2016.

“The bridge will not open but the channel will be navigable with reduced vertical clearance,” further explained Eileen Peters, a DOT spokesperson.

Between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m., Monday through Friday, a single southbound lane will be closed as needed to accommodate various construction operations, according to the DOT.

Northbound, the current start of the third travel lane over the bridge will be temporarily relocated several hundred feet to the north, 24/7, so the additional northbound causeway travel lane can begin north of the construction zone, beyond the drawbridge, officials said.

Also, in cooperation with the state Office of Parks Recreation and Historic Preservation, work will be suspended on Fridays on fair weather beach days to minimize the work’s impact on beachgoers and Fire Island residents.

Specifically, the state is performing steel and other repairs on the moveable leaves of the bascule bridge of both the northbound and southbound drawbridge spans, officials said.

For real-time travel information motorists are encouraged to call 511 or visit www.511NY.org.


Photo: Robert Moses Causeway drawbridge photo by Andy Craig/Andy Craig Photography