AN iconic Scottish road which has been open for just five days in the past seven weeks because of landslides - will remain out of action till next week.
The A83 Rest and Be Thankful route was hit be another landslide on Sunday and has been out of action ever since.
The important Highlands route has been open for just five days since August 4 when the first of two landslide brought thousands of tonnes onto the road.
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.
Some locals have called for a public inquiry into the problems, with many saying a permanent solution must be found.
Now maintenance firm BEAR Scotland has confirmed repairs are continuing into the latest landslide, and that the early indications were that the work to reopen should be completed around the middle of next week subject to weather conditions.
Teams plan on undertaking the repairs 24 hours a day to reopen the road "as quickly as possible," BEAR Scotland said.
The Old Military Road local diversion route is to remain in use overnight tonight (Thursday).
The route will be reviewed on a daily basis "paying close attention to the weather forecast" to see if it will remain safe to reopen overnight, the maintenancy firm said.
READ MORE: Open for just 13 hours - Even more disruption at iconic A83 Rest and be Thankful road
Eddie Ross, BEAR Scotland’s north west representative said: “Teams are making good progress on site with clear up and repair works which has enabled further assessments to be carried out to determine the extent of the damage caused by the recent landslip.
“Initial assessments indicate that the work should be completed around the middle of next week, depending on weather and other developments.
“The Old Military Road will remain in use tonight, however we’ll be continually assessing and monitoring the hillside along with our geotechnical specialists to determine if it is safe for us to continue to keep the OMR in operation.
“We thank the local community and road users for their patience while we address the landslip at the Rest. Argyll remains open for business and our teams will continue to work around the clock to reopen the A83 as quickly and safely as we can.”
The landslike on August 4 came as 100mm of rain fell in the Argyll area blocking the A83.
The source of the landslip was located around 200m high above the A83, which split into two main channels as it spread out in a “fan effect” down the hillside.
One of the channels filtered into one of the landslip mitigation catch-pits which prevented around 2,000 tonnes of material from reaching the road, with around 1,500 tonnes of debris reaching the carriageway at the second channel. Car-sized boulders also reached the roadside in the debris. A further 2,000 tonnes of material was washed onto the Old Military Road.
In total, the landslide is thought to have moved around 10,000 tonnes of debris on the hillside following detailed geotechnical calculations of the hillside, making it one of the largest landslips in recent times. Earlier estimates put the original figure at 6,000 tonnes.
On August 6, a further 100 tonnes of material reached the carriageway overnight via the steep channel scoured out by Tuesday’s landslip, exposing large boulders. Teams worked to make these boulders safe using water-bags dropped into position from a helicopter as well as using a high-pressured hydraulic ‘jack’ to force the boulders into a new, safer position further down the steep channel.
Teams completed the clear-up of 2,000 tonnes of debris from the OMR on Friday 7 August and began work to construct a protective bund and channel parallel to the roadside.
The A83 reopened under traffic light control at around 10.25am on Monday 7 September. But the A83 and OMR were closed on Saturday 12 September due to forecast intense rain. This triggered a landslide which brought over 2,000 tonnes of material to the A83 with some reaching the OMR.
The clearance of the debris started on Monday as 5,000 tonnes of material had reached the A83 and OMR.
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