An articulated lorry collided with one of our historic bridges last night or this morning, forcing an emergency closure of the B974 Cairn O'Mount Road for an expected four weeks.
Bridge engineers have been out to the Spittal Burn Bridge to assess the damage, after the vehicle was left dangling over the edge following the collision.
The bridge, on the road between Banchory and Fettercairn, has regularly been damaged by vehicles in the past and in fact was damaged by a vehicle a month ago.
Combined with the damage to the parapet in this latest incident the bridge is now unsafe and Aberdeenshire Council will have to undertake immediate emergency repairs before the road can reopen.
The diversion will be over the Slug Road (A957) between Stonehaven and Crathes. The vehicle which damaged the bridge on this occasion is known and the council will pursue repair costs through vehicle insurance.
Structures manager, Donald MacPherson, said: "Sadly, this is not a rare occurrence on our network of historic bridges - we have a number which are regularly damaged by vehicles, leading to costly repairs, not all of which are recovered from insurers as the vehicles responsible are not always known.
"The need to close this route for such a significant time, clearly an inconvenience to locals and visitors to the area, highlights how important some of our bridges are for the connectivity of the area.
"The drivers of large and heavy vehicles should be aware of the potential for damage to our historic bridges and choose their routes accordingly. In recent months we've been aware of large vehicles carrying loads such as static caravans and even a military tank over the Spittal Burn Bridge."
Substantial repairs were carried out on the bridge in 2004, at a cost of £100,000, to increase the load carrying capacity and widen the approaches to it from both sides.
Details of all road closures and restrictions are available on the Aberdeenshire Council website, click here.
Diversion map