A giant low-loader lorry hit double trouble as it tried to transport a heavy electricity transformer across Inverness-shire.
The monster transporter of Slough-based Allelys Heavy Haulage was taking the heavy unit to a power station near Cannich when it first hit trouble in Inverness.
It was planned to take the low-loader, which has 64 wheels on eight axles, up Scorguie Road to avoid using the Muirtown swing bridge over the Caledonian Canal.
But the gradient proved too much for the lorry and the drive wheels began to lose traction and spin.
With the assistance of police, the transporter was backed on to the old A9 and managed to reach the A82 Inverness-Fort William road by a different route.
After pulling into the Wellington layby beside Loch Ness, the truck operator discovered a puncture, and there was a delay while a local company assisted with repairs.
There was also truck trouble in Argyll after a lorry was involved in an accident at roadworks, creating a 62-mile diversion.
The articulated lorry was travelling in a convoy through the works at Appin on the A828 Connel-Ballachulish road at 9am. The truck, which was carrying a large piece of agricultural machinery, was dragged into the soft ground on the verge, tipping the trailer and its cargo into the ditch. The road was closed for several hours yesterday morning until a crane pulled it out.
The roadworks are situated just passed Gunn’s Garage in Appin, which meant that traffic could still get from Port Appin to Oban.
For traffic travelling north, a 62.5-mile diversion was in place via the A85 Oban-Perth road at Connel Bridge to Tyndrum then on to the A82 Inverness-Glasgow road at Ballachulish Roundabout.
The southbound diversion was from Ballachulish Roundabout to Tyndrum.
The road reopened just before 1pm.
Sergeant Cameron Lowe of Oban police station said: “One carriageway of the A828 at Appin is closed while it is being resurfaced. The rear of the trailer went onto the soft ground on the verge of the road and the driver lost control of the trailer.”