Residents and visitors are expected to benefit from the new four lane bridge with upgraded intersections and additional lanes on the Princes Highway by 2024.

The concrete deck segments, which weigh 1100 each, are incrementally launched across the Shoalhaven River using hydraulic jacks.

Project contract manager, Ryan Whiddon, said it takes around four hours for the jacks to push each segment in its place.

Read more: Night works planned for the $342 million Nowra bridge project

"The bridge is attached to one main superstructure," said Mr Whiddon. "When we cast each segment, its attached to the segment before."

"It then gains strength and there's two large hydraulic jacks that push the bridge forward.

"The hydraulic jacks have a stroke of 200 to 250 mil and slowly...it's pushed out over about four hours to push each 19 meter segment across the river."

It takes 60 concrete trucks to make one segment. Upon completion, the bridge will weigh over 20,000 tonnes in total.

Read more: New Nowra bridge site a hive of activity

Mr Whiddon said over 55,000 vehicles travel across the current bridges per day and the new bridge will ease traffic congestion.

He added that challenges due to the pandemic and La Nina have not caused any delay to the project.

"We've been quite lucky during the whole of the COVID period, and also with the weather this year that we haven't had any significant impacts to our program," he said.

"Things are progressing really well."

He said there are plans in place if forecasted rains were to flood the Shoalhaven River and impact the bridge's progress.

The $342 million project is jointly funded by the NSW and Federal Governments.

South Coast MP Shelley Hancock was joined by Liberal senator for NSW Hollie Hughes for a tour of the bridge on Thursday, December 9.

Senator Hughes marvelled at the bridge's progress and the amount of jobs it has created.

"It is just fantastic to see this project coming along and to be able to walk along this bridge that is actually moving itself across the river. I mean, it's just an absolutely wonderful engineering feat," she said.

"200 jobs have been created while this project is underway."

Early work on the bridge started in March 2020.

Work over the coming months will include: piling for Bomaderry Creek Bridge, building the northern abutment for the new Nowra bridge, asphalting the new road between Lyrebird Drive and Princes Highway and installing street lighting.

The new road connecting Lyrebird Drive to the Princes Highway will be named Shearwater Way and is expected to open to traffic in early 2022.

Transport for NSW are seeking feedback on the historic Nowra Bridge and how it can be repurposed once it is retired for road traffic.

Fill out the online survey by Friday, February 4.

We depend on subscription revenue to support our journalism. If you are able, please subscribe here. If you are already a subscriber, thank you for your support.