Construction of a new bridge on Frame Drive, Abermain will start next week.
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Demolition works on the old bridge started on Thursday, and the first sod for the new bridge will be turned on Monday.
The bridge was extensively damaged in the April 2015 super storm and has been closed since then.
The single-lane timber bridge will be replaced with a two-lane concrete bridge with an open load limit.
Frame Drive had become a popular shortcut since the Hunter Expressway opened in March 2014.
The bridge’s load limit was reduced twice in the first six months after the expressway opened – first to 10 tonnes, then five.
But the super storm sealed the bridge’s fate – it was deemed unsafe due to the damage it sustained.
Cessnock City Council received $2 million from the Federal Government’s Bridges Renewal Program, which covered half of the cost of the new bridge.
The new bridge will include pedestrian/cycle pathways on either side.
