Work starts this week to repair the flood-damaged B6263 between Warwick Bridge and Wetheral Road.
A 50 tonne pile driving machine is due on site and is expected to start work on Friday,18th November, repairing the road which was virtually washed away in a landslip during the severe flooding of January –the road has been closed to traffic ever since because of fears that another dangerous slip could occur.
The B6263 runs alongside the River Eden for almost half a mile and river is designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest.
The scheme to repair the damaged road has been specially designed to minimise impact on the river and river bank and the plans have been approved by English Nature and the Environment Agency.
The work will involve using a vibrating hammer to drive steel sheet piles through the ground into bed rock. Once the piles are in place they will be supported by ground anchors inserted through the piles under the highway and driven through into an adjacent field.
The environmental sensitivity of the area meant that work, such as exploratory borehole drilling needed to investigate and design this solution to the long running problems on the B6263, could only be carried out between June and September.
Engineers working for Cumbria County Council came up with the solution which avoids conflict with the SSSI so work to reinstate the carriageway can be carried out through autumn and into winter instead of having to wait until May 2006 and the council’s ambition is to complete the project by Christmas.
Deep and potentially dangerous excavations and pile driving work mean the road will have will have to be closed to pedestrians.
Anyone wishing to photograph or film the pile driving should contact the county council's media team.
Jack Richardson, cabinet spokesman for transport and infrastructure, said: "The environmental sensitivity of this site has made this a tricky issue to resolve after the landslip all but washed parts of the road away. But we have come up with a solution which satisfies environmental concerns and should see the road re-opened by Christmas."
Wetheral county councillor John Robinson said: "I have been working with council staff on this difficult issue since the flooding and I am very pleased the road is being repaired - it will be a relief for the people of Plains Road who have had to put up with extra traffic since the road was closed."