A vital stretch of road in Speyside that was destroyed when the aftermath of Hurricane Bertha wreaked devastation on Moray in August has now been restored.
A section of the B9136 Avonside Road near Tomintoul was completely swept away when the storm-swollen River Avon burst its banks, leaving motorists facing long detours.
However, work carried out by Spey Bay contractor’s Limehillock Quarries saw a new channel formed in the river to carry water away from the damaged road which was then rebuild 10feet above the water level.
A bank of large pitching stones was then put in place to protect the bank of the river and over 2500tonnes of rock armour put in place with a further 3000tonnes of crushed rock.
Moray Council’s east region area engineer, Ian Cameron, said: “The B9136 is an important route of Tomintoul – when it was closed the public faced a long diversion via Drumin, Glenlivet and back to Tomintoul via Tomnavoulin on the B9008.
“The repair therefore had to be carried out as soon as possible. The type of heavy plant and materials needed are not used by council roads maintenance teams, who were very busy anyway with numerous other sites that had been damaged.
“We are very pleased with the final result and the speed with which the road was reopened.”