Rest and Be Thankful: '100,000 tons of debris' waiting to fall on to A83

Transport Scotland route manager Neil MacFarlane has also told community chiefs in the area that 2020 saw 20,000 tons fall on to the road at that point – double what has fallen in nearly two decades.

The stretch of the road has been subject to regular closures since a landslide in October 2018 and was plagued by major landslips in 2020.

Mr MacFarlane also said that workers from his organisation, as well as staff from BEAR Scotland, who maintain the route, will be staying on site for years yet.

Discussion of the route and its future took place at a virtual meeting of Helensburgh and Lomond Community Planning Group on Thursday, February 11.

A hundred thousand tons of debris is waiting to fall on to the A83 from the nearby hillside, members of the Helensburgh and Lomond community planning group have been told (Photo - BEAR Scotland)

Lomond North SNP councillor Iain S. Paterson sought information on whether there was an estimated time on when the road would fully re-open.

Mr MacFarlane said: “I don’t know if this is common knowledge, but it can be shared. In the last 19 years or so, there have been about 10,000 tons of material moved off the hill on to the road.

“Last year alone, there was 20,000 tons – so that is double everything that’s happened in the previous 19 years, in one year.

“At the moment, there is 100,000 tons on the move on the hill. We are looking at 12 options in a short timescale.

The A83 has been plagued by landslides, and the threat of them, for many years (Photo - BEAR Scotland)

“We want this to be done by March, because that is the end of the financial year.

“The other milestone we have set ourselves is next winter. What can we do before then to build resilience?

“It is impossible to say when the road will be open again 24/7, or two-way, as we do not know what is happening on the hillside.

“What I can say with certainty is that BEAR Scotland and Transport Scotland will be there for years.

The A83 has been plagued by landslides, and the threat of them, for many years (Photo - BEAR Scotland)

“We haven’t even talked about longer term solutions, but our colleagues in major projects are working on routes to Argyll.

“At the end of the day we have to keep the road open and get it running 24/7 in both directions – as soon as we can.”

Councillor Paterson then asked: “Those are quite significant changes in terms of figures of what is likely to come down. Are the mitigation measures going to be adequate to deal with that volume?”

Mr MacFarlane replied: “Not at the moment, but it is very unlikely that 100,000 tons will come down in one go. It’s something we have to plan for, and will be looked at moving forward.”