Following the collapse of a 15 metre section of road at Soldiers Rock on the Knoydart peninsula late on Tuesday 24 October, work is progressing on repairing the landslip on the single track road.
A full inspection of the affected road has been carried out and a Highland Council engineer will be on site on Wednesday this week to carry out preliminary work before detailed survey work is carried out on Friday. Due to the physical restraints and the challenging terrain the engineers are looking at an option of bypassing the slipped section by making a new road, approximately 300m long, to connect the bottom and top road. The Council will wait for the detailed survey work starting on Friday to be completed before discussing preferred design solutions with the local community. In the meantime work on preparing to transport materials to the site are continuing.
Chair of the Environment, Development and Infrastructure Committee, Cllr Allan Henderson said: "I would like to thank the community for their patience and understanding as we work to find the best solution to what is a complex engineering problem. Anyone who has visited the site or seen the photos will be fully aware of the constraints as the road is on a very steep hillside with a sheer drop below. The team of engineers are working hard and we should be better placed to come up with a solution after the detailed survey work is completed."
The route is a lifeline road for the communities beyond the slip which include Airor, Doune and Sandaig. Since the landslip a road shuttle arrangement has been in place by the community. However, following slippage of some additional material at the site last week plans are in place to erect a 30m scaffolding pedestrian bridge as soon as possible. In the meantime the Council has been liaising with community landowners in order to improve parking and turning areas at each side of the landslip and the current road shuttle service will continue.