Solution in sight for Invergordon sinkhole mystery
THE mystery of the recurring potholes at a popular Invergordon layby has been solved.
They are not potholes at all, but sinkholes which keep opening up on a stretch of reclaimed land in Shore Road, known as Linear Park.
Work started this week to investigate the cause of the problem, and Cromarty Firth councillor Maxine Smith has appealed to the public for any information about the materials that went into the land reclamation project.
She said the large layby had been cordoned off for months, pending an investigation.
“The public assumed it was because there were several large potholes awaiting repair, but in fact it was waiting for the whole matter to be investigated,” she said.
“Every time the potholes were filled in they would sink, and reappear even greater in size than before. There was clearly something else going on.”
Councillor Smith said the area had been reclaimed using infill from various demolished buildings, including the old slaughterhouse.
“The feeling appears to be that the area has several sinkholes in it, which is slowly eroding the top structure,” Councillor Smith added.
Work started on Monday to dig out each pothole to see what lies beneath.
“Each hole will be reinforced with cement until it fills up to the top,” she said.
“It is the type of cement that is foam-like and expands. Once each one has been treated the surface areas will be tarred over.
“This will not be a cheap exercise and will take some weeks to complete and may not be sequential, depending on what other jobs come up, but at least it is being tackled now.”
Councillor Smith added: “If anyone wants to contact me to tell me exactly what materials went into the land reclamation here, I would be happy to hear from them, either by phone or social media.
“At least we will get to use the layby again at some point soon.
“After we put in the picnic benches and bins this became a popular place to park and rest with visitors, and of course locals love using this area to walk their dogs.”
A Highland Council spokeswoman confirmed: “The programme for the works is planned to start this week with a proposed solution using foamed concrete. While this would seem to be the most appropriate solution at the moment, once the excavation takes place and the infill can be seen, a more appropriate solution may be required but it is unlikely that this would delay the final surfacing of the area.”
