First phase of Rest and Be Thankful landslip work nearing completion

BEAR Scotland gave an update on the work at the latest meeting of the A83 Taskforce, held in Arrochar recently.

The project has involved creating three large new ‘debris catch-pits’ next to the A83 carriageway that are designed to catch any material or debris from a landslip and prevent it from reaching the roadside should an event occur.

One small catch-pit was created in 2013, and once the construction of the three new larger pits is complete, together they will have the combined capacity to store around 13,000 tonnes of landslip debris from the hillside.

The project began in March 2017 and has involved excavating over 28,000 tonnes of rock from the hillside as well as securing the area around the newly constructed pits with deep soil nails and mesh.

In addition to creating the catch-pits, engineers designed an innovative and sustainable use for the excavated rock from the construction of the pits at the Rest.

Around three miles west of the pits at Glen Kinglas – another area assessed as having a risk of potential landslips - teams used the 28,000 tonnes of rock to construct six rock bunds across watercourse channels flowing down the slope towards the A83.

These bunds are up to 10m high in some sections and help form a barrier against any potential debris flows while allowing the water to pass beneath.

Not only has this helped to provide further resilience for the A83, but this sustainable method allowed BEAR Scotland and Transport Scotland to maximise the benefit of the material being excavated from the Rest while minimising the overall cost of these works to the public purse.

It has also substantially reduced their carbon footprint through the much-reduced haulage distance of removing the excavated rock from site with around 50,000 road miles saved.

In the autumn teams will return to build the second phase of the catch-pit project, which will involve constructing a fifth catch-pit to the north of the first phase catch-pits.

This will be a shorter phase as it will involve creating one pit rather than the three just built.

For safety, temporary traffic lights will be required during the project, with the second phase expected to be completed in spring 2020.

Eddie Ross, BEAR Scotland’s north-west representative, said: “The recent meeting provided us with a good opportunity to update key stakeholders with the project’s progress at the A83 Taskforce meeting in Arrochar, and keep them fully informed of our next steps.

“As ever we thank all road users for their continued patience and our teams will do all they can to complete the project as quickly and safely as possible.”