Road opens as fear of landslip allayed

Atemporar y wall has been been installed to allow access to a northeast harbour.

The road to l ower Gardenstown was closed by Aberdeenshire Council on Monday after new cracks appeared on a retaining wall on Main Street.

Inspections were carried out and work was immediately undertaken to build a temporary wall of concrete blocks, each weighing about 2.4 tonnes.

The work means the road has now reopened, to the “relief ” of locals.

The temporary measures have been introduced due to fears about the roadside retaining wall which has cracked and was showing signs of recent movement.

Main Street and Church Road in the village were shut o n Mo n d ay as a precaution, but pedestrians were still allowed to pass.

Council roads engineers say there has been no obvious sign of further deterioration to the wall.

They decided against installing temporary traffic lights on the route due to the severity of the bend in the road, existing poor forward visibility, and the slow speed of traffic.

Additional warning signs are being erected.

The council has been in discussion with the owner of the wall and has given them advice and guidance while they consider options for a permanent solution.

Troup councillor Ross Cassie welcomed the temporary fix and praised officials for dealing with the problem so quickly.

He said: “This fix will be a big relief for residents of Gardenstown who could not access the harbour by car for a few days.

“It is also great to see that during this difficult time, things are still getting done.

“If there was no temporary fix then there would still no access to the harbour and there would be no movement there.

“The reaction from residents who have reached out to me has been positive and they are happy with the swiftness of action.

“Obviously a permanent solution still needs to be found but there will have to be some in-depth investigation into that and it will not happen soon.”

Gardenstown has repeatedly been hit by landslips over the years.

The village suffered a significant one two years ago, with vehicles unable to travel down Harbour Road for seven weeks.

Multi-million-pound work was undertaken to make sure Gardenstown would not suffer a repeat.

Heavy rain damaged the retaining wall on Main Street, which led to cracks forming in it.

QUICK FIX: Ross Cassie at the retaining wall where concrete blocks have enabled the road to be reopened.