Gwynn’s Island residents learned during a meeting with VDOT officials on Thursday night that work is being planned on the island’s bridge for next year.

Fredericksburg District Bridge Engineer Annette Adams with the Virginia Department of Transportation told a packed house at the Gwynn’s Island Civic League building that the center bearing on the pivot pier is slated for replacement because of wear from repeated openings and closings.

In addition, the steel trusses and mechanical support members are due for rehabilitation work, along with the bridge’s mechanical and electrical systems. Adams said that one of the diesel engines will be replaced with an electric motor. One diesel engine is required to remain in place because of the possibility of electrical outages, she said.

The problem that caused the bridge to become stuck open on hot days this past summer had to do with the clearance on the island side of the swing span, she said. After successively long ho...