Just a heads-up for anyone who might have been planning to head into Argyll via the Rest and Be Thankful in the near future. We had very heavy rain all day today and, once again, we have had a massive landside on the A83 just below the Rest and Be Thankful cutting my area, Inveraray, Campbelltown and all points around here from our quickest route to Helensburgh, Dumbarton, Glasgow etc. and meaning a 60 mile detour or a thirty mile detour plus Ferry journey from Dunoon. Unfortunately as is usually the case it has also affected the Old Military Road which was specifically (if rather stupid and shortsightedly) upgraded as an alternative route should the main road be blocked by landslides. I reckon it will be several days at least before they clear it again. So much for the 79million pounds they spent on measures to try and stop landslides from causing closures. If I recall correctly they originally estimated something like £19 million for this work which meant that the option pursued won over the option of building an entirely new road on the other side of the glen which could have been built while traffic continued to use the existing road and incorporated any measures necessary to reduce or eliminate landslide risks which was estimated at something like £90 million and was ruled out as too expensive and not a worthwhile option. I wonder if, when the current works finally exceed the 100 million mark, they will finally decide that it should be abandoned and the other option pursued. I have to say that this looks like the biggest landslide we've had in well over ten years https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-53658307 I would be surprised if it's open again in less that a week.
Fortunately it seems to be ‘on the road’ instead of ‘destroying the road’. I remember (10 yrs ago?) cars and a coach being trapped between simultaneous landslips that carried away the road from Lochearnhead to Killin.
Don't worry about my new bike @Privateer If the worst comes to the worst I will get the new off/on road tyres I am going to put on it, go on foot and meet the delivery van on the other side of the slip, put 'em on, and give the bike a baptism of fire!
I have to say that the landslide looks like a right bugger this time! I took a trip up the glen to eyeball it tonight and it ain't a pretty sight. I am thinking it's the worst we have had in at least ten years. Can't get close enough for a real good look but it seems that some of the hillside below the carriageway has been undermined and, given the steepness I can see it taking some form of underpinning and serious work to rebuild the edge of the road. Even the OMR at the bottom of the glen looks to have been at least buried under a good covering of mud and boulders if the road surface itself hasn't been damaged. I am thinking that my new Bonnie will have to come over the ferry to Dunoon. I've already paid them including the shipping fees so I don't know if they can now ask for any more or if they have to ship for the figure charged.
Well, one thing you can say for floods and landslides... It washes away all the Shite the bloody tourists left behind. I gave a guy with a campervan a right good bollocking the other day when I spotted him emptying his portaloo in a lay by. NC500 looks like an open sewer.
Don't blame you Sandy.......that fecal matter and those chemicals are working their way into my whisky. Bloody fecal accretions.
From the looks of it, not so much a landslide but more of a wash out, as we would call it. When I lived in WV (Appalachian mountains) roads would, on occasion, be washed or "indexed" downhill by a meter or more, tarmac fully intact. Funny thing was, it didn't seem to stop the locals with 4X4 and trucks. Go figure.
Aye we get that here too @Big Sandy . Quite frankly a lot of them are filthy scum. They camp out and then leave their shit (yes the human variety) where it falls complete with bog paper and even leave their 'disposable' tents, camping chairs and all their other crap where it falls. They also think nothing of turning off the road wherever they feel like it in their 4x4's and tearing up the countryside wherever they decide to camp. The buggers even bring bolt croppers or angle grinders or whatever and cut the chains and padlocks off of locked gates so they can go in and camp. It is noticeably worse this year as well since the Police decided that we didn't need a Policeman in the village anymore. Half an hour at least if you need Police assistance now! They have respect neither for the locals, the law or the countryside they claim they want to enjoy.
Same all over Scotland @MartyWilson I can see locals dealing with the scum themselves we had to have a clean up off the local area after the last influx of scum so a lot of beauty spots have been closed off and heavily barricaded access points put in place
Probably time to think about getting rid of the free camping allowance and force them into regulated motorhome/campsites. Then, those that are caught not using the regulated facilities, can be dealt with by dirk. The population is just getting too large. I always feel guilty when thinking of pollution as we have probably all been caught short in the past and relied upon mother nature to sort it. But at least there was a modicum of an effort to clear up/keep clear of populated areas. Seems like modern offenders just don't give a shite (well they do but at the roadside). We also all use fossil fuels. It just is that there are simply too many of us. And it is a discussion that needs to be had urgently, not just in the UK, but globally.
