The site at Sron na Lairige can be divided into 3 main topological areas. The lowest section is through a heavily vegetated and poorly drained area. The available stone was generally of a poor quality and very unweathered.
In the second area, the path went straight through a deep peat scar, the erosion through here was very extensive, with a scar of up to 30m wide. Stone was scarce and drainage was a huge problem. The area at the top end of the site was marked by extensive boulder fields with wide areas of path braids in between. Vegetation was much thinner here and the soils more typical of the Cairngorm tops. Good quality stone was readily available, but care had to be taken of where the many drainage features were sited to ensure that the surface water was shed away from the path effectively. Each of these different areas presented their own problems which required differing solutions, but the one thing they all required was extensive and clever landscaping to help this popular access route to Braeriach recover. Construction phase photos.
The finished path.
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