Engineers at the site of Laxey’s collapsed bridge hope the remains of the structure can be demolished either today (Thursday) or tomorrow.
The bus which ended up in the river in the centre of the village after the collapse can then be moved down towards the harbour and boat park where it can be dismantled in situ and removed.
This process is likely to take a number of days to be completed.
Work was continuing yesterday at the site of last week’s incident.
Engineers were ensuring services such as telephone lines were secure and re-routed if necessary before the remains of the bridge are demolished
This is expected to be done by the end of this week if all goes according to plan, according to site construction manager Gary Saunders.
Once the way is clear, the remains of the bus are to be moved downstream towards the harbour boat park, where they can be dismantled and removed.
Mr Saunders said the bridge demolition would also leave a large quantity of rubble needing removal from the site.
A temporary pedestrian foot bridge is to be constructed across the river. Engineers were laying the foundations for this yesterday (Wednesday) and the concrete will take a few days to cure. If all goes smoothly, engineers will then spend two days building the bridge, which should be ready for use either by the end of Tuesday or on Wednesday morning.
The driver of the bus, which had dropped off its passengers, had a lucky escape, getting off the bus just before the bridge collapsed last Thursday, when an unprecedented 48mm of rain fell.