A road notorious for landslips has re-opened after 100 tonnes of debris stopped traffic again this morning.
The A83 has now been closed six times since December 2011, and roads management firm BEAR Scotland called in specialists to clear the area after heavy rain brought rocks and mud from a nearby hill on to the road surface.
Two parts of the road were affected and engineers are to remain at the site near the Rest and Be Thankful, in Argyll, overnight with more rain expected.
Concrete retaining blocks are to be fitted and BEAR will patrol the road to check for any danger.
Earlier today First Minister Alex Salmond described it as a "serious and developing situation". Rainfall of 26.4mm fell overnight in the region, with most of its falling between 6am and 9am.
In February a relief road to take traffic away from the notorious landslip area was opened but the new route, along an old military road in Glen Croe, was not accessible from the recent site and a detour of around 50 miles was put in place.
Transport Minister Keith Brown said: "We know that the A83 is a vital route for people living and working in Argyll and Bute and our operating company, BEAR Scotland, has deployed all of its resources to clear the hundred tonnes of rock and mud from the road at Glen Kinglas as quickly as possible.
"The slip at the Rest and Be Thankful was much smaller and unfortunately another slip caused some debris to fall on the Old Military Road which is used as a diversion route for the A83. This wasn't brought into play today as the main landslide was too far west for it to be used.
"Landslides are naturally occurring events, we can't stop them happening but we can lessen the impact and we have been making improvements, not only to our processes but also through engineering. There are no overnight solutions to the issue but we are committed to a programme of on-going works to remedy the situation.
"We have invested £3.7m in mitigation measures on the A83 including protective netting, a new culvert and drainage system at the site of a previous landslide and geotechnical monitoring equipment.
"This area at Glen Kinglas is part of the further studies we are undertaking on the A83 to find solutions to the unique challenges that the route poses."
Brian Gordon, BEAR Scotland's managing director, said: "Our team has worked flat out in difficult conditions to re-open the road. We are doing so with traffic controls and a number of other safety measures in place given the on-going poor weather forecast.
"As always the safety of motorists is our utmost priority and we will ask anyone experiencing delays to be patient while we continue to monitor the situation throughout the night."
Argyll and Bute Council leader Dick Walsh said there are concerns about the route with businesses relying on it for deliveries and trade.
He said: "Following today's closure of the A83 trunk road, we have written to Transport Scotland seeking confirmation of the suitability of the risk assessment and contingency planning for the A82 works at Pulpit Rock.
"The people who visit, live and work in Argyll and Bute depend on these lifeline routes and we need to ensure that they are able to continue to go about their business.
"We will, of course, offer any assistance that we can to Transport Scotland and work closely with them and the police to find the best possible solution for everyone."
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article