News, Products, Services
Maccaferri debris flow barriers for
Scotland’s A83, Rest & Be Thankful
A further phase of rock-fall protection work
is currently under way at the Rest and Be
Thankful pass in Argyll & Bute.
Rest and Be Thankful carries the busy A38
trunk road between Arrochar and Inveraray
through mountainous terrain in the west of
Scotland. The pass suffers frequent debris
flows which have resulted in closure of the
road four times in the last six months.
When the road is closed, a diversion of
roughly 50 miles is required.
In the latest phases of work, ten bespoke,
wire mesh debris flow barriers from
Maccaferri are being installed by main
contractor Geo-rope.
When the current works are completed,
a total of eighteen Maccaferri debris flow
barriers will have been installed over nine
work phases.
Because of the difficult terrain, helicopter
techniques have been employed to lift and
place components of the 2.00m - 6.00m high
barriers into position on the steep road-side
slopes. In the barriers, bespoke posts and
custom rope networks support the heavy duty
interceptor mesh. The systems are designed
to arrest debris flow material and prevent
inundation of the road below.
The current phase of the project design is
being led by Consulting Engineers Waterman
(Perth) in consultation with rock-fall
protection specialists Maccaferri, and builds
on detailed geomorphological assessments
by Geomorph Consulting and land surveys
by Geo-rope.
Performance of the Maccaferri barriers
will be constantly monitored using a web
hosted asset monitoring system developed
for use with the systems by itmsoil. The
instrumentation will integrate real time
remote monitoring and logging of barrier
conditions and automatically triggered day/
night photogrammetry. This will provide
quantitative data on barrier performance
and help with network management and
scheduling of unplanned maintenance events
in response to debris flows.
Tel: 01865 770555
Web: www.maccaferri.co.uk
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