Scottish Canals update £1 million dredging programme
SCOTTISH Canals has several major investment programmes under way. In the Highlands, dredging work will take place along the Caledonian and Crinan canals between January and March 2021.
The work will be funded by £1 million of additional cash from Scottish Government, part of the Government’s £230 million Return to Work package, launched in June to mitigate some of the economic impacts of Covid-19 on the Scottish economy.
Scotland’s canals play an important part in both the national and local economies. The Caledonian Canal generates millions of pounds for the local economy every year and is one of Scotland’s top visitor attractions.
Promoting greater use of the canals brings benefits to the West Coast and Highland economies, not only encouraging boaters but supporting local jobs and businesses.
Scottish Canals, working with contractors, expects to remove 20,000 tonnes of material from the canals, making them easier to navigate and ensuring safe passage. Dredging will mean that larger vessels will be able to navigate the canals, carrying passengers and cargo from coast to coast.
During February and March next year, dredging will be carried out between Laggan Spout and Kytra on the Caledonian Canal. Laggan is where water collected from burns and reservoirs on the surrounding hills runs down into the canal to supply a gravityfed system of locks.
Previous years have seen draft restrictions on the canal when extreme weather and flows of silt meant restricted transit for deeper-drafted craft.
The top gates at Gairlochy will be replaced. These substantial locks sit at the southern end of Loch Lochy, one of Scotland’s deepest lochs. The challenges of working around such volumes of water mean that here the preparation works include constructing dams rather than using stop planks. New hydraulic operating mechanisms on the gates will make them more efficient and cost effective.
It was originally constructed to provide an alternative route across the Kintyre Peninsula, avoiding a long and dangerous journey around the Mull of Kintyre. More than 1600 boats from around the world transit the canal each year.