Crinan Canal gears up to re-opening
The final stages of work are being completed on the Crinan Canal before it is due to re-open to traffic on May 1.
Scottish Canals has been carrying out planned winter maintenance and also emergency repairs on embankments over the last few months, through their contractors McNaughtons and Mackenzie Construction, at the Crinan Basin and Bellanoch.
“These small areas have seen a lot of activity in recent months, and we are very grateful to everyone in the community for continuing to engage with us throughout the works cycle,” said a spokesperson for Scottish Canals.
“Crinan Canal has been prioritised for investment under our asset management plan, and the recent works are an important step in keeping our historic and beautiful canal safe, open and ready for visitors for many years to come.
“We have also started re-watering the canal – this will be barely noticeable to begin with as the process is done in increments, slowly, gradually and with constant monitoring of the conditions of the canal bed.”
The final activities on site will be to reinstate the towpath surfaces and re-open them to the public; install the dummy lock walkway and finish the stairs; restore the path to Crinan Woods (with a slight change to the route offering a gentler approach as agreed with Argyll and Bute Council’s core paths team); remove the site compound from the car park and clean up the area and final re-landscaping, pathway reinstatement, and tidying up.
There are also plans to make improvements to the bin stores at the car park ahead of clearing up the site to help discourage fly-tipping and smarten up the look of the facilities.
“Once the canal re-opens, boats will not be able to moor alongside the repaired spot at Embankment 16 (along the stretch indicated in pink below) until we have designed and installed an alternative mooring arrangement,” said the canal spokesperson.
“This is because we are replacing a flat wall with a sloping embankment (a more robust solution). All other mooring locations will be fully available as usual.”
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