EHG6069 - Watching brief - water main, Lochend-Loch Alvie

A watching brief was maintained by Headland Archaeology in 2001 during the excavation of three test pits along the route of a military road in advance of a proposed NOSWA pipeline north of Dores, Highland. The proposed route ran from Lochend (NH 2597 8379) in the west to the new Inverness Water Treatment Works at Loch Ashie (NH 2637 83691) in the east and to Dores Primary School (NH 2606 8363) in the south. The section of Wade’s Military Road was considered to be at some risk of damage during test pitting and a watching brief had been recommended following a DBA and walkover survey (see EHG580). All three of the excavated test pits showed an undisturbed soil profile and no trace of Wade’s military road was apparent. It was seemed likely that the modern road was built directly on top of its 18th century precursor rather than to one side of it, and the survival of the military road in these circumstances is doubtful. <1>