A historic bridge near Castle Douglas is under attack from above and below, it is claimed.
Local resident Ian Finlayson has warned that HGVs and farm traffic regularly breach restrictions to cross Old Brig o’ Dee.
Now he is urging the council to tackle a new danger – severely eroded mortar binding stonework at the bottom of the tiers.
Mr Finlayson, whose home stands next to the river, said: “The bridge desperately needs looking at.
“In the years I’ve been here I’ve seen the erosion at the bottom of the tiers getting worse and worse.
“You physically can’t not see the gaps in the mortar.
“All it takes is for one stone to be dislodged by a boulder or tree trunk being swept down the river.
“Then all the others could go over time. The present damage gets noticeably worse every year. I can see a huge difference.”
Balmaghie Community Council has previously demanded action to protect pedestrians and the bridge from heavy vehicles using it as an unlawful shortcut.
In August 2021 a woman broke her arm in a fall – with suspected vehicle damage to the bridge pavement to blame.
The A-listed bridge has spanned the swift flowing Dee for almost three centuries following its completion around 1739. It has been spared reconstruction and with many original features intact is regarded as one of the finest examples of its kind in southern Scotland.
Mr Finlayson said: “No-one to my knowledge has inspected the lower part of the tiers in the 22 years I have been here.
“Divers came to inspect the bridge last August or September but could not do it because of the height of the water. Dumfries and Galloway Council surveyors came out but had the same problem. Why can’t they do it when the water is low?”
A Dumfries and Galloway Council said previously that work on the assessment of the load carrying capacity of the bridge had started but “requires the conclusion of a topographical survey of the bridge which itself will be completed once river levels
permit.”
A council spokesman said: “The bridge has been the subject of a routine general inspection and the defects identified will be added to a schedule of maintenance repairs planned for this current financial year.
“Some pointing to stonework is required around the base of the piers which will be included in the above schedule, with the exact scope of such repairs determined once a planned dive inspection is undertaken around June this year.”
