Crinan Canal: Winter Works Programme 2025/2026

Navigation on the Crinan Canal is currently suspended until Friday 1st May to allow for our winter maintenance and repair programme.

Almost There…
We’re now in the final stages of the emergency and planned works in and around 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. 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.

Final Project Activities
All emergency repairs to the embankments are continuing according to the scope of works outlined on the ongoing works pages below. 

Both McNaughtons and Mackenzie Construction are set to wrap up their works over the course of the next week, and you will see them starting to demobilise bit by bit. 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
•    Final re-landscaping, pathway reinstatement, and tidying

Our local team is also engaged in making improvements to the bin stores at the car park ahead of site demobilisation to help discourage fly-tipping and smarten up the look of the facilities. 

Moorings: 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. 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.

Masonry wall repairs near Lock 14 

When? December to 1st May 2026

This project is now nearing completion. You can find out more about the scope here: Ongoing Works page. 

Repairs following tomographic survey near Bellanoch Bridge 

When? From Monday 9th February 2026 to 1st May 2026

This project is now nearing completion. You can find out more about the scope here:  Ongoing Works page.    

Landscaping and access improvements 

When? From Monday 2nd February to Tuesday 31st March

This project has now completed pending the reinstatement of paths across the embankments affected by teh emergency works above and final installation of the walkway over the dummy lock. The full list of improvements are detailed on our Ongoing Works page. 

Dredging  

Over the winter period, you may also see our dredgers out and about between locks 4 and 5, clearing the canal ready for boating traffic in the spring. We will publicise the dates and locations in advance. If you’d like to know more about how we prioritise and conduct dredging work, take a look at our article Canal Dredging Explained.   

Look out for detailed updates on our Ongoing Works page.

Email updates

We issue regular updates about the works by email. If you would like to be on the mailing list, please contact CrinanCanalUpdates@scottishcanals.co.uk.     

Frequently asked questions 

Why do the works need to be started this winter? 

Our canals are heritage structures that feel the force of the weather, periods of excess rain and drought, and the passage of time. The sinkhole near to Bellanoch and leakage near to Lock 14 have been prioritised for immediate investment and remediation as they are likely to develop into public safety risks. While the canal is closed for navigation, and to ensure that we contain disruption to local people and boaters, we are also aiming to make further improvements to the landscaping in this area. 

What are you doing to minimise disruption to local residents, businesses and moorings customers? 

One of the key considerations in planning the works has been the impact on local people and boaters.  

We are planning to locate plant, works vehicles and equipment in the public car park so that we can use the mains electricity supply there rather than run generators which cause additional noise. Where possible, we will try to avoid use of generators for the pumping operations during the canal dewatering as well. 

Likewise, we have limited the extent of the dewatering of the canal, which is a higher cost solution than dewatering the entire stretch between the locks but minimises local impacts.  

What will be the local impacts of the works? 

• Working hours: McNaughton & Son will be on site from 7am to 6pm throughout the works (finishing for the festive period on Friday 19th December and returning to site early January 2026).

• Use of the public car park, additional vehicles and traffic diversions: The works will take up space in the Scottish Canals car park and bring in additional traffic, and we anticipate short road closures (one day for the landscaping works, for example), which we will publicise ahead of time. Throughout the works, our contractors will ensure that they leave space in the north side of the car park will be available for the public. 
• Moorings: We have contacted our moorings customers to make them aware of the upcoming works and possible impacts on them. We may need to move boats occasionally.  
• Tenants: Our dedicated Property Manager has also been in touch with local tenants and they have been provided with contact details for queries related to their properties.
• Trees: To conduct the engineering works safely, we have cleared several trees (three saplings and one larger tree) lying close to Lock 14.  
• Pumps: There will be pumps in operation while the canal by Lock 14 is dewatered in early to mid-January: they will be close to the basin and near the dewatered site. There will be some noise from the pumps, but we will work to reduce the duration and utilise mains electricity as much as possible to avoid using generators.
• Temporary traffic lights: In the week commencing 9th February, temporary traffic lights will be in place on the B841 road at Bellanoch. They will be manually operated during working hours to minimise waiting times for traffic. 
• Towpath closure near to Lock 14: Our engineering team have considered requests for this section of towpath to be re-opened or to create a route through the fenced off area. Having reviewed the need for fencing and for the closure of the towpath, we have decided to keep the fencing in place to ensure the safety of the public while we inspect and ascertain the cause and extent of the leakage in the masonry wall and complete repairs on the towpath side. Additional fencing has been put in place to mark the closure more clearly. The closure of the towpath is disruptive: as we progress investigations and learn more, we will keep the need for fencing under review, and we will remove the fencing as soon as we have fully verified that it is safe to do so. 
• Towpath diversions: You can see the current closures and diversion routes marked up on our map below:

Do you have the necessary permissions to conduct these works? 

We are working with Historic Environment Scotland (HES) to ensure that the works are appropriate and sensitive to the heritage of the canal. Necessary consents have been gained for the high-priority works to address the leakage by Lock 14 and the sinkhole, and other consents are in process.  

Our Environment Team have been on site in Crinan in recent weeks to scope out the environmental mitigations and fish rescue plan, too. We have obtained environmental authorisation for the upcoming work, and the team are liaising closely with SEPA on plans.  

The felling of several trees to enable essential works in the interest of public safety is permitted under the Town and Country Planning (Tree Preservation Order and Trees in Conservation Areas) (Scotland) Regulations 2010.  

Who should I contact if I have questions or concerns? 

We will continue to update you here on the Scottish Canals website as the winter works progress. Our team will keep in touch with community councils, and our community meetings will be ongoing. 

The next meeting is online on Thursday 16th April from 17.30 to 19.00.

https://teams.microsoft.com/meet/340849660220539?p=qPbe65JlQ0LFcwPANH 

Meeting ID: 340 849 660 220 539 

Passcode: m3XP38Mh

If you have any questions about the works, please get in touch with us at CrinanCanalUpdates@scottishcanals.co.uk or on 01546 603210 (Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm). Should you need to contact the team urgently out with these hours, please call Scottish Canals’ emergency number, 0800 072 9900 (open 24 hours a day for reporting an immediate threat to the environment, wildlife or public safety).