A Monmouth man is part of the A40 Safety Group that has been given access to all past records on the A40 carriageway.

On the first anniversary of the landslip, Andy Smith told the Beacon that from the time of construction in 1960s, it was known that the area was prone to large landslips and that the “carriageways were built over the unstable rubble of past slips.

“Parts of the road fell away several times during construction and the Chapel Farm buildings near the riverbank were badly damaged and so demolished. Attempts were made to stabilise the area between the carriageways and the river Wye and these included installing extensive drainage works under the road.

“There was nothing that could be done to stabilise the thousands of tons of steeply inclined rock above the carriageways so it was decided to constantly monitor those areas thought to be at most risk of slipping. This was complicated by the fact that the land beside the road was in private ownership, forested and used by deer, ramblers and even off-road motorcycles. Several different movement monitoring methods were used over the decades but all monitoring was stopped in 2018.”

Locals reported during the construction of the A40 in the 1960s that the workers on the construction of the roads found their machines “sliding all over the place” and they warned then that there would always be a problem at the site.

The Safety Group found that it was not only the waterlogged area above the carriageways that caused concern. The records for the original drainage works under the carriageways had been lost and those culverts and drains that could be found were dry. A landslip on the riverbank walk in 2021 had occurred almost directly below the 2024 rockfall onto the road. This appeared to provide evidence that the instability of the hillside extended beneath the carriageways as rainwater found its uncontrolled way to the river.

National Highways hired the company Morgan Sindall to conduct a survey of the area above the road and then make recommendations about how best to go forward. The area between the river and the road was not to be surveyed and there are no current plans to reinstate or replace the drainage that previous monitoring contractors had considered essential.

After the February 2024 rockfall, both carriageways heading into England were closed and there was traffic chaos until one lane was reopened. An initial survey was conducted for National Highways and the presence of dormice and bats noted.

“The dormice were then used to excuse many months of inactivity. More than eight months after the rockfall, a contraflow on the carriageway heading into Wales was finally opened, so allowing the higher carriageway to be closed,” he added

Today, more than a year after the initial rockfall, Morgan Sindall staff have spent several weeks carefully removing all undergrowth from the hillside immediately above and beside the rockfall. The area they have cleared extends ten metres from the road and is around 60 metres long.

“It is time to ask National Highways to stop dithering and assess the situation both above and below the carriageways both thoroughly and quickly.

“If the road can be safely opened, please do it. If not, please start work on a realistic alternative route,” he said.

In response to the criticism of the ongoing works, National Highways Engineering Team Manager, Angela Williams, said: “Safety is always our priority and robust measures were taken when the A40 was widened to a dual carriageway to protect the stability of the road and adjacent slopes.

“This rock fall was not in an area of past instability. It is also wrong to suggest monitoring has stopped – regular reviews of the area have been taking place for decades and will continue to do so.

“We have a team of renowned industry experts helping to design a solution for this site. We appreciate that is has taken some time to progress these works but it is important that we are thorough and develop a solution now that will protect the site for decades to come.”

She also added that It is a legal requirement that, once dormice had been discovered, we stopped work to deal with them in line with strict regulations and that it is known that large scale landslips occurred on this hillside 10,000 years ago.

“Although there are records and signs of periodic slope movements here, major instability most recently occurred in the 1960s when the A40 was widened. This resulted in the construction of a large-scale slope stabilisation scheme and implementation of a slope monitoring regime, which has continued in various forms to the present day.

“This rockfall occurred in a cutting of previously undisturbed weathered rock on the edge of the pre-existing land slipped area and not in an area of past instability. It is considered not to have any wider significance to the pre-existing deep-seated landslides at Leys Bend.

“Monitoring of the site has been undertaken for several decades and we had recently reviewed all available monitoring records. The monitoring has not documented any indication of movement within the ancient deep-seated landslides. Monitoring did not stop in 2018 as claimed. “

“The majority of this hillside does not belong to National Highways. However, we do regularly inspect it for issues that could impact on our network. We will be working with adjacent landowners to implement longer term risk management options.

“Having removed vegetation and soil from the location of the fall we are now considering the most appropriate method to manage the risk from this section of the slope. Options include netting, rock bolts or a safety fence.

“The landslip on the riverbank was due to regular riverbank erosion and not linked to the historic issues here.

“We have met with the A40 Safety Group and provided detailed, technical explanations about the issues here. We will continue to liaise with them to attempt to allay their concerns, “ she said.