Monday, March 18, 2024
In BriefHuge boulder above main road to be blown up

Huge boulder above main road to be blown up

A 150-tonne boulders perched precariously above a main road is set to be blown up by engineers.

The rock is perched 175m above the A83 at Rest and Be Thankful, Argyll. It was branded a hazard to drivers by experts after a landslip caused by Storm Frank last week.

Between 200-300 tonnes of rubble led to the closure of the road last week and it was shut again on Monday due to more more safety concerns.

Teams from road contractors Bear Scotland installed anchors to keep the boulder in place whilst preparations were made for the blast.

The boulder which is to be blown up
The boulder which is to be blown up

 

Engineers shared pictures of the massive rock along with road updates on Twitter. One shows the boulder apparently about to slide down the hill, and others show workers in orange jumpsuits dwarfed by it’s huge size as they plan the explosion.

Matty Alley wrote: “Not got a sledgehammer?”

Gordon Neish joked: “Has that poor man been holding it up all night?”

A Twitter user called Christine wrote: “Wile E Coyote springs to mind.”

Brett Walder wrote: “Are you selling tickets? Seriously though. Best wishes for clearing it successfully tomorrow.”

And JJ commented: “Ah long way to work for me!”

A Bear Scotland spokeswoman said: “Good progress has been made and preparatory works should be completed today (Wed) ready for works to make safe the boulder to take place.”

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