New barrier completed through Glen Croe
Installation of a protective bund next to the old military road at the Rest and be Thankful has been completed, writes Colin Cameron.
The 175m long, 6.6m high bund will act as a barrier to protect users of the old road through Glen Croe, the detour to the landslip-prone A83 trunk road.
It was formed using a modular system favoured by the military, with individual units stacked to create a defensive wall across the foot of a channel carved by two large landslips in 2020.
The bund provides greater confidence in being able to safely keep the old military road detour open during inclement weather conditions, which increase the potential instability of the slopes above the A83.
Transport Secretary Michael Matheson said he was pleased the bund was completed, making the diversion more reliable: ‘This is important progress towards improving the resilience of the old military road and I would like to put on record my thanks to the teams involved for all of their efforts. Alongside these measures Transport Scotland continues to explore future works for the hillside to bolster the resilience of this key corridor route.’
Eddie Ross of trunk road management firm BEAR Scotland said: ‘This work, together with the successful installation of the in-channel barrier above the A83, completed before Christmas, means we’re continuing to strengthen the landslip resilience in the area following two large landslips in 2020.’
He added the hillside was continuously monitored and weather in the area, and progress would cotinue with further mitigation work.