Gairlochy swing bridge planned upgrades

Our contractors, Fairfield Control Systems, are due to arrive on site at Gairlochy swing bridge on Monday 3rd March for a short programme to upgrade the bridge wedge system, completing in time for the reopening of the canal for the spring season, on Monday 31st March.

The Fairfield Control Systems team will be on site from 7.30am to 6.30pm each day, however we have instructed them to make every practical effort to keep noise to a minimum. Any activity that is expected to be noisier should be carried out between 8am and 5pm.

What will we be doing and why?

The bridge wedge system supports the bridge deck, allowing traffic to safely travel over the bridge. We will be removing the existing hydraulic wedge system and installing a new system, driven by electrical actuators.

The new system is designed primarily to improve reliability, and the components have a longer lifespan than the current system. In the event of a fault, the new system will also reduce the time it takes to put the bridge back into operation. 

The new electrical actuation also offers maintenance and environmental benefits; the routine maintenance required on the bridge will be reduced, as we will no longer need to monitor for oil leaks or to change and dispose of the oil within the hydraulic actuators.

The new wedge support design is the result of our investment in developing a reliable and robust standardised system for all the swing bridges across the Scottish canal network. The implementation of the new standardised design will also provide further efficiencies across the canals, as we will no longer require bespoke components for each moving bridge or individual familiarisation for our operation and maintenance teams.

Why are we doing this work now?

We are pleased to have secured £300k funding from Scottish Canals’ Capital Investment Programme (CIP) 2024/25 to carry out these essential improvements and we are taking advantage of the current canal winter closure to carry out the works.

Local access

The B8004 road across the bridge will remain open for the duration of the works, however Fairfield Control Systems will need to close the road for occasional short periods to allow them to install components. We expect these closures will be up to 15 minutes in duration. 

Fairfield Control Systems will put up road signage to advise traffic of the occasional closures, and we have instructed them to restrict the timings of road closures so as not to impact on local bus timetables. 

The towpath will remain open, with no restriction to access.

Fairfield Control Systems will set up a site welfare unit on the south east side of the canal, beside the Scottish Canals workshop.

Keep up to date

While this is a short programme of works, we are committed to keeping all local residents, businesses, and other stakeholders informed.

We will share any important programme updates on this page, and on our Ongoing Works webpage. Any important updates will also be shared on the Caledonian Canal Facebook page.

If you have any concerns during this programme of works, you can contact Steven Ingram, West District Operations Supervisor (Scottish Canals), at Steven.Ingram@scottishcanals.co.uk (09:00 – 17:00, Mon – Fri). Alternatively, you can contact Ryan Stokes at Fairfield Control Systems on 07773 592462 (08:00 – 17:00, Mon - Fri). Should you need to contact the team urgently outwith these hours, please call Scottish Canals’ emergency number, 0800 072 9900.