£500k rock slope improvement project completed on A82 at Wellington Layby beside Loch Ness
A PROJECT to stabilise two sections of rock slope opposite Loch Ness at Wellington Layby on the A82, around seven miles north of Drumnadrochit, has been completed.
The £500,000 project involved engineers carrying out extensive work to a stretch of the rock face above the A82 to help stabilise the slope and mitigate the risk of any material reaching the carriageway.
Teams worked to remove around 400 tonnes of rock from the face to scale back part of the slope, with specialists working from high ropes to install more than 2400 sq m of steel mesh over the new surface which is held in place by 320 anchors drilled into the new slope. If the new anchors were laid end to end, they would be longer than 1200m.
The project began in February with temporary traffic lights in place to protect road workers as well as motorists. All traffic management has now been removed and the A82 reopened to both lanes.
Eddie Ross, BEAR Scotland’s north west representative, said: “We’re pleased that the rock slope improvement project at Wellington Layby is now complete, meaning that there are improved measures in place to mitigate against any rock falls reaching the A82.
“The teams have worked hard to complete this important project on time and to minimise the impact to road users throughout the work.
“We thank all road users and the local community for their patience while our teams successfully completed the project.”