Collapse of the A68 was an "accident waiting to happen"
Residents whose properties were damaged when part of a main road collapsed near their village in the Borders, say it was 'an accident waiting to happen'.
The A68, which connects the Borders to Edinburgh, has been closed for more than two weeks after thunderstorms and heavy rain caused a landslip near Fala.
The company Bear, who are looking after the repair of this road, have been on site for two weeks now and they say they're making good progress.
More than 2,000 tons of rock has been laid so far to try and bring the embankment back up to road level, and a further 3000 will be brought in, before the road itself can be rebuilt.
But the busy stretch of road, and the closure, is having an impact on some local residents and business owners. Fala dam resident, Kevin Spence, says that when part of the A68 embankment collapsed, it sent a tsunami through his garden, and home -destroying everything in its wake.
Kevin's was one of several homes in Fala Dam that were flooded. Concerned about the safety of the road, some residents formed the A68 Focus Group some years ago. They've said they saw something like this coming.
Jenny said: "The main focus of the focus group has been safety and one of the things we've been drawing to Transport Scotland's attention is the danger of that specific bit of the A68, because it's build on sand.
"And with there being a continual puddle there, it's softened the sand underneath, and with the rain we had it scoured out everything and that took it all down and it all ended up in Fala Dam.
"It was an accident waiting to happen."
Transport Scotland have said 'Whilst the landslide at Fala Dam was unforeseen with no known road defects in the area that could trigger such an event, in light of recent weather events across Scotland, we will review whether further inspection and monitoring requirements are necessary to prevent damage to our assets during intense storm conditions.
“Recent events are a sharp reminder of the need to adapt our transport network to the effects of severe weather.
"Climate change will increase both the intensity and frequency of storms, flooding and high winds. Regardless of the real progress being made in decarbonising the transport network adaptation of existing vital infrastructure will still be essential.
“A lot has already been done, but we have identified the need for further climate change adaptation, mitigation and adaptation, as a central plank in the recently published National Transport Strategy which sets out our vision for the next few decades.”
Bear say they are hopeful that if all stays on track, and no more severe weather disrupts their progress, they will have the road reopened in early September.