Repair Work To Begin On A77 Marchburn Landslip

Road repair works are scheduled to begin on the A77 Marchburn landslip north of Cairnryan in Dumfries and Galloway.

In order to establish the working site and install supportive piling, the A77 between Stranraer and Girvan will be completely closed beginning at 8pm on 03 November until 6am on 06 November. Signed diversions will be in place.

In November 2014, both sides of the A77 trunk road failed due to winter storms. This resulted in the embankment supporting the carriageway being compromised, while the upslope embankment deposited debris directly onto the trunk road carriageway.


Scotland TranServ was able to carry out temporary repairs to backfill the upslope side with rockfill early in 2016. However, it wasn't possible to carry out similar short-term remediation on the downslope side due to the size of the failure and the 40m (130 feet) high steep embankment between the road and Loch Ryan.

A geotechnical assessment of the area has been carried out to determine a long-term solution to the issue and repair works can now be carried out.

Charles Macklin, Scotland TranServ's Principal Engineer said: "We have been carrying out painstaking assessment of the landslip and intricately assessing the unique geography of the area in order to identify and design the best long-term solution. The complexity of the location is intensified by the high, steep embankment towards Loch Ryan on the downslope.

"Delivering this solution will require a large, complex project that we expect will take a number of months to complete. Initial forecasting from our contractors suggests that the works will be completed, the traffic lights lifted, and the road fully reinstated by early 2018."

(LM/MH)