AUGUSTA — State bridge crews will close one lane of the Father Curran Bridge for much of the day Thursday to make temporary repairs of a deteriorated expansion joint.

Maine Department of Transportation officials are urging drivers to seek alternate routes to minimize any backups caused by the emergency repairs, assistant state bridge maintenance engineer John Buxton said.

The problems with the joint were discovered recently during a biennial inspection of the bridge, Buxton said.

A more permanent fix, requiring two to three weeks of lane closures, will be scheduled once the weather warms up later in the spring to help with the accurate pouring of concrete for the joint reconstruction, Buxton said.

The bridge is scheduled to be reduced to one lane with alternating traffic from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., he said, although he hopes the installation of temporary plates to protect the expansion joint may be able to be completed within about four hours if all goes well.

State transportation officials, however, are warning drivers that the lane closure could continue Friday if work crews run into unexpected complications.

Buxton noted that a huge traffic jam occurred in Augusta when work crews tackled reconstruction of a similar expansion joint on the bridge several years ago. The work then had to be called off until better traffic control was available.

Buxton said he does not expect a major traffic impact Thursday given the opening of the new Cushnoc Crossing bridge on Route 3 in northern Augusta and drivers’ experience with the closure of Memorial Bridge last year.