Crinan Canal: Winter Works Programme 2025/2026

Update: 11th May 2026

With the canal re-opened, we’re moving back to routine maintenance and inspections as well as the final resurfacing of towpaths and roads in the wake of the works. The Waverley paddle steamer is set to arrive in Crinan Pier tomorrow (Tuesday 12th May), then in Ardrishaig (Sunday 17th May) and back to Crinan (Sunday 19th July). Our team is in contact with The Waverley and is ensuring that there is access over Lock 14, where the pathway is being created, and along the other routes in the basin.

In the meantime:

• Towpaths: The access works are set to complete in the next two weeks, having started later than anticipated due to the emergency works over the winter. This week, McNaughtons will lay the edgings and ramps along the path at Sea View and Lock 14. They will then tarmac the new paths and the section of towpath at Embankment 16. Mackenzie Construction will then, spray and chip the towpaths so that they are fully reinstated. Short sections of towpath will be closed for a few hours on each of these days with signage in place. We will post the dates on the website once the contractors have confirmed them.
• Traffic lights at Bellanoch: Argyll & Bute Council is supporting us in repairing the road surface by the Bellanoch stretch of the canal following a winter of heavy vehicles passing over the route. On Friday, our contractor removed the lights for the weekend. They will return briefly for the road resurfacing (dates to follow on our web-page once received from Mackenzie Construction).
• Canal draft: We have now reached a draft of 2m along the canal.
• Dredging next week: Our operations team is dredging in Bellanoch. Boats are still able to pass, and our team is on hand to help boaters.
• Diving inspections: You may see divers out in the canal in the next few weeks as we move back to regular inspections.
• Moorings at Lock 14: We are set to install a temporary mooring berth this month – more details to follow.

The canal is filling up again

The Crinan Canal will open fully to navigation tomorrow, Friday 1st May, and we have a busy schedule of bookings from boaters set to pass through the Basin and newly repaired sections of the canal. At the time of writing, we expect to reach 2m draft for the start of the day, and we are contacting the few deeper-drafted vessels to ask them to hold off for now. We’ll be pleased to announce full draft once achieved.

The work undertaken in recent months has been extensive and has covered a long stretch of the canal, restricting towpaths and bringing heavy machinery and construction teams into the small Crinan basin. That we have reached this stage after so many challenges – structural weaknesses in the embankment at Bellanoch and Lock 14 which required extensive demolition and rebuild – is testament to many people. It is down to the support of the local community, collaboration with our boaters and moorings customers, our contractor site teams, our local team in Crinan, and our engineering and infrastructure team. 

We would also like to thank the funders of the landscaping and access improvements around Crinan Basin – Argyll & Bute Council and Walk Wheel Cycle Trust.

Finishing off our landscaping and reinstatement works

The emergency works and rebuilding of the embankments has delayed the final stages of the landscaping and access improvements. 

We have a few tasks left to complete: 

• Install the Dummy Lock walkway (by the end of this week).
• Installation of ramps both sides of Lock 14 and footpath reinstatement around the Dummy Lock. Boats will still be able to pass through Lock 14, which will be facilitated by our Operations Team. Our local contractor, G McNaughton & Son, will keep a safe route open from Crinan so people can continue to access the towpath while works take place around the Dummy Lock and Lock 14.
• Clean up the area as heavy machinery departs. 
• Final re-landscaping and tidying of both sites.
• Improvements to the B841 road in collaboration with Argyll & Bute Council and removal of traffic management for the half-lane closure. The automatic traffic lights will remain in the meantime with short waits between the lights switching.
• Both the towpath at Bellanoch and Crinan will be open from 1st of May and a short closure will be required before mid-May to allow the laying of tar to finalise the reinstatement. Signage and ramps will be in place for safe access on those sections of towpath before the final works.

Lock 14 mooring – out of action for now

As mentioned in the previous update, the repairs to the embankment near to the Lock 14 have replaced a flat wall with a curved bank. Mooring at this point will not be possible for the time being (we are informing boaters, and signage is about to be installed). We are looking into alternative mooring arrangements for the site so that it can be used once again. All other moorings are open and accessible as usual.

Masonry wall repairs near Lock 14 

When? December to 1st May 2026 (Completed)

Repairs following tomographic survey near Bellanoch Bridge 

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

Landscaping and access improvements 

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

Some final landscaping and reinstatement activities are underway and will be completed by mid-May. See 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).