Motorists on Kansas Highway 10 Tuesday and Wednesday nights will have to stop while crews place steel beams over the roadway.

Work will begin at 7 p.m. Tuesday and end at 6 a.m. Wednesday. Crews will again install beams starting at 7 p.m. Wednesday, and traffic will flow as normal by 6 a.m. Thursday.

Construction continues Friday on a stretch of highway between O'Connell Road and East 1900 roads along Kansas Highway 10.

Kansas Department of Transportation officials are warning motorists to expect delays or to plan to use alternate routes.

Eastbound drivers will be flagged to stop on K-10 at O’Connell Road in Lawrence, and westbound drivers will stop at the intersection of K-10 and East 1900 Road.

Once the girders, or beams, are set, drivers will be waved through, said KDOT spokeswoman Kimberly Qualls.

The 4-mile section has already been reduced to one lane in each direction.

The beams are part of the new traffic bridge over K-10 that will connect East 1750 Road and Noria Road on the east edge of Lawrence.

Qualls said construction of the bridge could cause delays in the future.

The new bridge is a component of the east leg of the K-10 South Lawrence Trafficway project, which is scheduled to be complete in fall 2016.