The first phase of work to repair a 70-year-old bridge is set to get underway which will involve four sets of closures and rail disruption. Kingsferry Bridge, which connects the Isle of Sheppey with the mainland, will shut so that 40 steel ropes that lift the bridge can be replaced. Built by British Rail in 1960 the bridge is used by motorists and pedestrians to travel to the rest of the county and is the only route trains can use to get across The Swale. The ropes were last replaced almost 30 years ago and are now coming to the end of their operational life. Recent tests have found some of th…