Bonnybridge and Twechar will no longer be ‘a Bridge Too Far’ for boats

It has taken more than a year, but two faulty bridges which put a stop to boat trips along the full length of the Forth and Clyde Canal will now be fully reopened within weeks.
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The £1.7m repairs are so critical to the future of the area’s most important waterway that a special Canals Carnival - featuring an armada of craft, large and small, sailing (or paddling) past the Helix - is to be staged in May.

It promises to be a must-see event at the very start of the main tourism season, and quite apart from massive local interest should bring visitors from near and far.

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But much of the work that has made it all possible has been taking place, largely unobserved, at night.

Major funds and some complicated engineering have been needed to bring damaged bridges back to fully operational working order - it’s hoped for at least a generation to come.

The next stage of the work will be the installation of new cylinders within the next couple of weeks.

In our video engineers are seen removing the old hydraulic cylinders at Bonnybridge.