Landslip as winds batter Scotland.
 

A long stretch of the A83 has been shut after a landslide at the Rest and be Thankful road, west of Loch Lomond.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/...st/8244247.stm

You'd think they would have progressed from candles or oil lamps by now . . .

Aye, but that involves running loooooooooooong wires and they're no cheap, ye ken???

Council cutbacks, they should have gone for the self-relighting type of candles.

Efforts are under way to clear the A83 at the Rest and Be Thankful in Argyll after a landslide brought a torrent of mud down the hillside onto the road.

"I suppose it comes down to funding doesn't it, it's a money issue. It's a huge undertaking financially and population-wise I suppose we're not considered to be the most populated area. Is it a question of lack of funding due to that?
If this had happened outside Glasgow you can guarantee this would be resolved within a year or so - they'd build a structure like you see on the continent that would ensure this would never happen again."

More at:- http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/...st/8245541.stm

How do you stop these landslides?

Significant stabilisation of the slope with mechanical buttressing reinforcement together with drainage of ground water.

Weld-mesh crates filled with boulders can be the easiest method of providing a permeable structure (simple concrete can be subject to water pressure). The problem is that the measures might need to be applied along a significant stretch (at great cost).
When motorway embankments are constructed various measures are employed to stabilise the slope - but this ain't cheap . . .