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Hauliers were forced to take long detours more frequently last year as Forth Bridge shut for a total of 11 days. The Forth Road Bridge was closed to LGVs for a total of 11 days last year, piling the pressure on hauliers forced to pursue long-winded, alternative routes. Figures released by bridge operator Forth Estuary Transport Authority (Feta) show high winds were the cause, forcing drivers to travel 20 miles out of their way for 260 hours between April  2006 and March 2007, the highest for 18 years.

This has dropped to 93 hours, or around four days, for the current year so far, but the Freight Transport Association says it still puts a strain on hauliers' profitability. "There's a cost to the industry and to the economy," says Gavin Scott, FTA head of policy in Scotland. "The problem is, of course, that when the bridge is closed to high-sided vehicles, the alternative bridge gets chock-a-block as well."

Scott says he has been told by consultants that the new bridge crossing being built in 2011 will not suffer from closures due to wind because the problem has been "engineered out". However, tunnel campaigners are using the Feta figures to argue that a new bridge is a flawed enterprise. Scott responds:

"If there was a tunnel, there would be restrictions on that there would be no whisky lorries, no petrol tankers, nothing [like that] would be allowed through the tunnel." A Feta spokesman  denies the figures reveal an increasing trend towards closures: "These figures are a simple statement of fact - the number of hours the bridge was closed to high-sided vehicles each year. We'd be wary of reading too much into them."

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Feta says LGVs would not be able to use the "mini-bridges" it is considering using on the Forth Road Bridge next year to keep traffic flowing. The ramps would sit over main expansion joints allowing workers to rebuild worn-out components while traffic flows overhead, slashing the impact of roadworks. But councillor Tony Martin, Feta convener, says: "LGVs would probably not be able to cross the bridge in one direction during the works, but that represents only 3% of its total traffic. Feedback from the haulage industry is positive, as this scheme would prevent the alternative routes from becoming gridlocked."