A68 reopens to the delight of drivers

The A68 near Fala, just before it was reopened this morning.

A large section of the road, between Ravenswood roundabout north of St Boswells to Pathhead has been closed since a large section of the carriageway collapsed, along with the 20m embankment below, in heavy rain on August 12.

Drivers who faced a 20-mile-plus diversion route to Edinburgh had feared it would take months to repair, but contractor Bear Scotland has been good to its word and the route is once again open.

Initially, the affected section is under traffic light control, while final works are carried out, including the resurfacing of the footpath, drainage improvements and landscaping, but Bear hopes to have that sorted by the end of this week.

Work continued through the night to meet the contractor's own deadline.

An estimated 5,000 tonnes of rock were used to rebuild the embankment and repairs continued over the weekend with the completion of the roadside safety barrier, carriageway surfacing and road markings.

A spokesman for Bear Scotland said: “Each stage was carefully programmed and coordinated to minimise the overall timeline without compromising safety or quality of construction.”