Traffic on the bridge would be closed from 6pm to 6am each day and opened to traffic from 6am to 6pm.

The 240 metre steel bridge on the White Volta which links Tamale to Kintampo is the only route that links the north to the south as well as Ghana to its Sahelean neighbours such as Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger.

The maintenance work would be carried out by the Bridge Unit of the Ghana Highway Authority (GHA)

The Minister of Roads and Highways, Mr Kwesi Amoako Atta inspected the bridge on Tuesday to see at first hand the state of preparedness of the engineers.

He said the maintenance work would cost GH¢420,000.

He said the maintenance work would cause some amount of inconvenience to the public but it was important for them to bear with the engineers working on the bridge to ensure safety for all.

The Minister was accompanied by his Deputy, Mr Kwabena Owusu-Aduomi, a Deputy Director of the GHA, Alhaji Baba Kassim Nuhu and the Northern Regional Minister, Mr Salifu Sa-eed.

The bridge is said to have been constructed in the mid 1960s.