Maintaining and developing the canals
Our projects
Stoppages Programme: Winter 2026/2027

Works and Stoppages Programme: Winter 2026/2027

Find out more about plans for maintenance, repair and development of Scotland's canal network this coming winter

 

Our Engineering & Assets Team carries out routine inspections of all the heritage assets on the canal network. With so much of our infrastructure built more than 200 years ago, there are a variety of issues that can affect them as they age, requiring close monitoring, maintenance, and repairs.  

The task of monitoring the structures is carried out by a team of asset inspectors who visit and assess the condition of:

  • The five canals themselves (embankments, locks, gates and mechanisms) extending over 141 miles
  • The network's 19 feeder reservoirs (including sites as iconic as Loch Ness!)
  • Engineering assets, including 62 historic aqueducts
  • As well as bridges, weirs, feeder channels, lock bypasses and culverts
  • Towpaths and access routes, the canal estate and properties, lighthouses and landscaping

Our assets are important places for people and nature while also playing vital roles in the management of water through our landscapes. Many of our major towns and cities, as well as rural centres, were built around the canal network in the late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Having evolved along the banks of the canals, these settlements have dependencies upon the canal and reservoir network for their water management. 

As climate change begins to affect our rural and urban landscapes, the role of the canals is changing too. Through partnerships with local authorities, Scottish Water and other public bodies, we are finding innovative ways to use the network for additional drainage and flood mitigation, as well as supporting management of water quality in neighbouring burns and rivers.

Winter is the busiest time for works on our canal network as we seek to minimise disruption during the boating season. You can find details of upcoming stoppages and towpath diversions on the network over the winter of 2026/2027 below. 

View Current Works and Stoppages on our Network Map

You can view the status of our main assets (canals, aqueducts, and locks) on the canal network map. Click on the icons to learn more about each feature and any restrictions to navigation currently in place. Stoppages in this winter's programme will be marked on our map in red as soon as they are implemented.

View the full schedule of works and stoppages by canal

Forth & Clyde Canal

Locks 3 to 16, Gate Replacement, Repair and Upgrade Programme, March 2025 to April 2027 (NAVIGATION/TOWPATH)

Kelvin Aqueduct - Repair Programme, February 2026 to March 2027

Lock 20 (Wyndford) Bypass Installation, August - October 2026 (TOWPATH/RESTRICTED NAVIGATION TIMES)

Lock 21 (Maryhill) Bypass Installation, February 2026 - March 2027 (NAVIGATION)

Auchinstarry Marina - Installation of Smart Bollards and Metering, September - October 2026

Lock 38 (Helenslea) - Emergency Gate Repairs (NAVIGATION)

Union Canal

Cobbinshaw Reservoir Valve Repairs, September 2026 - January 2027

Mitigation of Defects on the Almond Feeder Aqueduct, November - December 2026 (TOWPATH/FOOTBRIDGE)

Manse Road Bridge Repairs, October - November 2026 (TOWPATH/ROAD TRAFFIC)

Park Farm Bridge Repair, September to October 2026 (TOWPATH/ROAD TRAFFIC)

Caledonian Canal

Kytra Locks - Installation of Actuators, January - March 2027 (TOWPATH/NAVIGATION)

Dochgarroch Retaining Wall Upgrades, 30th November 2026 to 28th January 2027

Corpach Marina - Installation of Service Bollards, January - February 2027

Dochfour Burn Dredging, May to December 2026

Kytra and Fort Augustus - Dredging, January - March 2027 (TOWPATH)

Laggan - Dredging, January - March 2027 (TOWPATH)

Gairlochy Swing Bridge Upgrade, November 2026 to January 2027

Crinan Canal

Faolinn Reservoir Improvement Works, October 2026 - December 2027

Clachaig Reservoir Debris Boom, October 2026 - January 2027

Gleann Reservoir Embankment Upgrade, November 2026 to January 2027

Lock 14 - Installation of Pontoon, January 2027

Locks 4 to 5 - Dredging, September 2026

Ardrishaig Harbour - Plough Dredging, October to December 2026 (PONTOON)

Contact us

Please direct enquiries to the Kelvin Aqueduct Project Team at: enquiries@scottishcanals.co.uk, or call us on 0141 332 6936 (Monday to Thursday 8.30am-5pm, Friday 8.30am - 4.30pm).

If you have any questions related to a mooring, please contact moorings@scottishcanals.co.uk  

For any other boating enquiries, please contact lowland.canals@scottishcanals.co.uk, 07810 794 467 Â