A82 Fort Augustus | Swing Bridge Upgrades

UPDATE (03/02/25): Traffic lights will be in place between 9am and 5pm on Monday 10 February until Friday 21 February.

UPDATE (22/01/25):  Due to difficult ground conditions, an additional night of closure on the A82 over Fort Augustus Swing Bridge is required.

On behalf of Transport Scotland, BEAR Scotland will be carrying out essential bridge maintenance works on the A82 at Fort Augustus swing bridge from Monday 6 January 2025. Works will be carried out between 7am and 7pm.

The £360,000 investment by Transport Scotland, will improve the experience for users of both the canal and trunk road. It will enhance safety of the swing bridge for both operators and the public, and improve the reliability and resilience of the bridge.

The project will take place from 7am on Monday 6 January and are due to be completed by the end of February. Works have been scheduled to coincide with works carried out by Scottish Canals to keep disruption to a minimum.

To protect road users and the workforce, the Canal Side South will be closed with a short diversion in place via Station Road. The A82 over the swing bridge will also be closed for two nights: 

• Tuesday 21 January from 7pm to Wednesday 22 January at 6am
• Wednesday 22 January from 7pm to Thursday 23 January at 6am
• Thursday 23 from 7pm to Friday 24 January at 6am

 As part of the works, it will also be necessary to close a single lane over the swing bridge whilst footway improvements are carried out due to the narrow nature of the carriageway over the bridge. Temporary traffic lights will be in place to control traffic safely past the work site.

Works will include replacing the side gate at the south west corner of the swing bridge, removing the footway gate at the north west corner, and repositioning the main barrier to enable it to also close the footway during bridge swings. There will also be adjustments to the south east towpath to reduce disruption to access during bridge swings.

Fort Augustus swing bridge will be open to traffic outwith the night time working hours and access through the works site for emergency services will be maintained at all times.

Ian Stewart, BEAR Scotland’s North West Representative said: “This project on the A82 Fort Augustus swing bridge will help reduce disruption to locals, and to trunk road and canal traffic, which arises from bridge swings and gate breakdowns.

“We’ve taken steps to limit the overall impact on residents and businesses by carrying out the work at the same time as the Scottish Canals project.

“Our teams will do all they can to complete the project as quickly and safely as they can, and we thank the local community and road users for their patience in advance while we complete these works. We encourage road users to plan ahead before setting out by checking the Traffic Scotland website for up-to-date travel information.”

Real time journey information is available from Traffic Scotland on traffic.gov.scot, X at @trafficscotland or the new mobile site my.trafficscotland.org.