AN ICONIC Scottish road is shut for a fourth successive day today as workers continue to attempt to make things safe after more landslides during the weekend.
Maintenance teams are still working to deal with debris after landslips on the A83 at Rest and be Thankful over the weekend.
The important Highlands artery has been open for barely three weeks since August 4 when a landslip brought about by rain blocked the road.
Motorists were left with a 60-mile diversion as the usual single track alternative route, the Old Military Road, which runs parallel to the A83, was shut overnight due to heavy rain.
Maintenance firm BEAR Scotland said that diversion re-opened at 7.45am following a safety inspection.
Over the past weekend Storm Aiden brought around 90mm of heavy rain since early Saturday morning which caused two significant landslides at the important Highlands route, both of which were held back from reaching the A83 by the landslide debris fences on the hillside.
BEAR Scotland said that they are dealing with debris from the last two landslips which were caught in landslide mitigation fences on the hillside from the heavy rain brought in by Storm Aiden, as well as repair the fences. They said that no material reached the roadside during the landslips this weekend. Engineers are also continuing with work to install further measures to protect the road on the hillside including an in-channel debris barrier following major landslips in August and September.
#A83 #RestandBeThankful: Old Military Road local diversion route currently in use for all road users through Glen Croe. OMR to be used overnight with teams closely monitoring conditions. Engineers continuing with work to address debris fences on A83: https://t.co/uugWZeDPtA pic.twitter.com/8U7ThZetHt
— BEAR NW Trunk Roads (@NWTrunkRoads) November 3, 2020
The firms said teams will closely monitor conditions in the area and on the hillside and the route will remain under close review.
Eddie Ross, BEAR Scotland’s north west representative said: “The Old Military Road reopened this morning following a safety inspection from our geotechnical team, and we’re intending to keep the route in use overnight.
“We’ll be closely monitoring conditions in the area throughout the day and during the hours of darkness and we’ll keep the route under close review.
“Teams are continuing with work to control the water flow, and repair and empty the debris fences to regain their full capacity following this past weekend’s wet weather. Engineers also continue with work to install additional mitigation measures on the hillside at the Rest.
“As ever, we thank the local community and road users for their continued patience while we do everything we can to address the ongoing situation at the Rest.”
Ministers have previously been accused of wasting nearly £80 million on more than a decade of failed solutions to landslides on the road after the latest multiple slips in heavy rainfall.
#A83 #RestAndBeThankful: Old Military Road local diversion route now *OPEN* following safety inspection this morning. Teams are continuing with work to address the debris caught in landslip fences over the weekend and install further mitigation measures on the hillside. pic.twitter.com/KN4Ofdvvp9
— BEAR NW Trunk Roads (@NWTrunkRoads) November 3, 2020
Some locals have called for a public inquiry into the problems, with many saying a permanent solution must be found.
Transport Scotland published details of the 11 "corridor options" for a new route to replace the landslip-prone section of the A83 include building up to three bridges or tunnels.
But the choice of solution is not expected till next year.
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 hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel