If you’ve been stuck in heavy trafffic on the A40 between Monmouth and Ross lately, it could be the the cause of the delay is a great deal smaller than it first appears thanks to a furry critter which is holding up the first phase of work to clear the debris from the rock fall which blocked the road earlier this year.

Environmental surveys at the site have found evidence of dormice around the site of the rock fall, right on the Wales/England border, which happened last February, and is currently means the road is open to single lane traffic only.

The fact that dormice might have taken up residence at the site means that National Highways now need to obtain a dormice licence from Natural England ahead of the vegetation removal, and work that was expected to start in November has been put back.

The work will see a contraflow introduced to enable the A40 to stay open in both directions while the rocks are safely removed and detailed examinations of the slope carried out.

But latest surveys have also shown that there’s a high likelihood that bats are roosting in the surrounding area too, and as such they need to plan their work carefully to avoid disturbing them.

They say they are hopeful that any delay will be minimal and they’re still expecting work to start before the Christmas period and are confident of delivering a permanent solution during spring 2025, which will be.still be over a year on from the rockfall.

Earlier this year, an expert in surveying and demining warned that the recent rockfall was a “timely warning”.

Monmouth resident Andrew Smith told the The Chronicle’s sister paper The Monmouthshire Beacon recently that several studies made since the A40 was completed in 1968 had identified a risk to the eastbound carriageway from landslides starting above the carriageway.

“This risk arises because the sedimentary sandstone layers in the area are inclined at 30 degrees with layers of slippery “mudstone in between”,” he said.

“Two severe landslides occurred during the road’s construction in 1964 and 1965, one at ‘Whipping Green’’ and one at Chapel Farm,” he added.

The Chapel Farm slip destroyed both new carriageways and the farm buildings close to the River Wye.

And he said the earliest landslips in that area date back to Roman times, so it’s instability was always well known and it was never a suitable place to build a dual carriageway.

The cutting of carriageways increased the slope in some areas and that combined with the weight of the new road (not its vehicles) were identified as the causes of the landslips during construction.

“When there have already been landslips in an area, the risk of similar events in parts that have not fallen before are obvious,” he warned.

He said that a Prime monitoring system was installed at the Leys Bend between the sites of the former landslides in July 2017 for a “trial monitoring period”.

And he warned that It appears “inevitable” that further landslips on the Eastbound carriageway will occur.

“These do not have to be large to be disastrous on a busy dual carriageway,” he added.

A slip blocked the riverbank footpath in 2021 almost in line with the rockfall higher up, and if a section of the entire road were to slide away as it did during construction the consequences could be devastating.

The official estimate is that more than 2,000 vehicles use the road every hour during peak times – and often at high speed.

He says that locals need reassurance that the area above the carriageways will be monitored over the entire area of risk and its drainage will be both maintained and improved.

“The at-risk area between and beneath both carriageways leading down to the river should also be surveyed, reinforced where necessary, and constantly monitored for movement,” said Mr Smith.