NEWS: The Rock Squad

Mark McLaughlin
Edinburgh Evening News
September 17, 2008

A CHUNK of Edinburgh's Castle Rock fell and smashed on to a tourist bus - days after geology experts had given the site the all-clear.

The 20-inch piece of rock became dislodged by Monday night's downpours and fell on to Johnston Terrace at around 5am.

It smashed into the empty bus, causing a number of broken windows and damage to the roof but luckily no injuries.

It comes after Historic Scotland's "Rock Squad" completed a risk management check on the south side of the rock on Friday, and had only just reopened Johnston Terrace after a week's closure.

The road has now been sealed off once again until further safety checks are carried out.

Historic Scotland has ruled out the possibility that its rock scaling exercises might have contributed to yesterday's collapse.

A Historic Scotland spokeswoman said: "We have no way of telling how often a rock fall happens. It is due to the force of nature and depends on weather conditions. All we can do is keep looking, checking and inspecting the rock.

"Rock falls are very rare. As such, the risk of rock falls can be managed but not predicted. Historic Scotland carry out a rock maintenance programme which includes surface inspection and scaling. The Rock Squad use abseiling techniques to remove plant growth and small loose debris.

"Due to its age, the Castle Rock suffers from natural erosion. Very heavy rainfall, frost or plant roots can all loosen joints and cause small rocks to detach.

"The surface area will be re-inspected by Historic Scotland with input from specialist geo-technical engineers."

The street was practically deserted at the time of the rock fall and no-one was injured. The bus is thought to have been driven away at around 11am and taken to a garage in Glasgow for inspection.

A police spokeswoman said: "We have been in contact with Historic Scotland about damage to a parked coach on the roadway caused by a falling rock.

"Work has being going on to make the rock safe. Obviously this work was carried out with some difficulty because of the poor weather conditions, so it may take some time to get it done.

"We have attempted to locate the coach owner but we have not had much joy."

A council spokeswoman said the road would reopen as soon as possible.

There have been a number rock falls in the area in recent years, the most serious occurring in 2006, when a huge boulder fell and smashed into a taxi. Moments earlier the cab's driver had watched as a tourist was hit on the head by a rock as she tried to flee the crumbling stones.