Road bridges over railways across England will shut for up to six weeks for engineering work, the Leicester Mercury reported.
Severe delays for drivers are feared as part of the US$117.6 million project to allow more rail freight to be transported through Leicestershire.
From June 2009, bridges will be made taller and rail track will be lowered to allow giant containers to travel through Oakham, Melton, Leicester and Hinckley.
The line, which runs through Leicestershire from Peterborough to Nuneaton, cannot take the new 9ft 6in containers because they would get stuck.
Nine road bridges will be adapted and eight of those will have to be completely reconstructed.
Seven footbridges will have to be replaced or raised. In most cases the original bridge will be closed and a temporary structure put up next to it.
Areas with bridges where works are planned include Melton, Hinckley, Whetstone and Wigston. No bridges in Leicester need to be adapted.
The Government says this work will take long-distance lorries off the county's busiest routes such as the A6, A46, A47 and M1.
Network Rail will carry out the work to allow more goods trains from the UK's largest container port, Felixstowe, in Suffolk, to go through the county, to avoid London.
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