by Graham Tutthill

Road and rail services in Dover have been
disrupted after a lorry carrying building materials crashed
into scaffolding at a railway bridge on Tuesday, February 16.

The scaffolding had been put up after another
lorry hit the bridge at Coombe Valley Road several weeks ago,
resulting in the road being closed for several days.

The accident happened at about 7am. The
building materials on the back of the lorry were not as high as the
bridge, but a crane hoist, used to move them on and off the lorry,
was higher and struck the scaffolding.

The accident happened just hours before
Transport Secretary Lord Adonis was due at Dover Priory Station to
see for himself how well the high speed train services are
operating.

Although the high speed trains do not use the
track running over the bridge for their services, they do pass over
the bridge each morning as they make their way from the depot at
Ramsgate heading towards Dover for the start of the service.

Rail and road engineers were called
to the scene of the crash, and police closed the
road.

The situation was made worse by the fact that
an alternative route for local traffic, St Radigund’s Road, was
being resurfaced and also closed.

Train services from Dover, Deal, Ramsgate and
Canterbury were affected, although some trains were
still running over the bridge.