IT IS the most bashed railway bridge in Britain, hit 18 times in the past year and 68 over the past five years.
Challoch bridge, on the A75 near Stranraer, is clobbered by lorries heading to and from the Northern Ireland ferries so often it has been given its own diversion route by police.
The long-suffering bridge at Dunragit, which will finally win relief
from the juggernauts when the village is bypassed, received belated support yesterday when it was highlighted as part of a new campaign against such "bridge strikes".
Transport minister Stewart Stevenson, who launched the initiative, said such crashes cost taxpayers some £500,000 a year. In addition, Network Rail said train disruption cost nearly £200,000 a year.
Part of the blame has been levelled at lorry drivers relying on sat navs designed for cars.
The most regularly hit road bridge in Scotland is Chartershall, which crosses the M9 near Stirling. It was hit 17 times by vehicles joining the motorway at a nearby junction last year, forcing its closure to traffic.
Lorries colliding with the Challoch bridge, on the main route between the Loch Ryan ferry ports and England, regularly cause hours of delays for drivers and rail passengers alike.
Network Rail said vehicles often came off worst in such encounters, but engineers had to make time-consuming checks for damage to the bridge and railway tracks.
Richard Carr, of the Stranraer to Ayr Line Support Association, and a former lorry driver, said: "There is no excuse for these incidents, which could be fatal."
A Dumfries and Galloway Constabulary spokesman said: "We have a diversionary route in place for when the Dunragit bridge is hit, which happens numerous times and causes tailbacks.
