Scottish Canals / Transport Scotland

Client: Scottish Canals/Transport Scotland
Project length: Ongoing contract
HF divisions involved: Automated Controls, Mechanical

Brief project description: HF Controls were successfully awarded the tender contract to complete essential electrical automation upgrades for multiple swing bridge sites that make up the historic Caledonia Canal System.

Stretching 60 miles along the Great Glen from Fort William to Inverness, the Caledonian Canal passes through Towns, Villages and vast Scottish Countryside in the Highlands of Scotland.

The existing system of swing bridges, some as old as 1936 (the Caledonian Canal was originally opened in 1822) was necessary to ensure the continued and safe use of the swing bridges across the canal route while helping to electrically automate the system.
The ongoing project involved the upgrading of the Wig Wags, the early warning signal system, vehicle traffic barriers and each individual sites entire control system.

Our sister Mechanical division in HF were used as part of the site work, maintaining air conditioning systems for control room sites where necessary.

Project Challenges: The work could only be conducted during periods of canal closure in the winter ‘off season’. This brought with it the familiar challenges of Scottish winter weather.

Our controls division had to work on swing bridge sites, sometimes in sub zero conditions. Due to the swing bridge locations, sites were often to dangerous to access because of ice on the roads, heavy snow build up and road closures. All of which are constant problems for road networks in the Highlands.

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At HF, our Automated Controls Division can produce Control Panel Solutions ranging from Single Motor Panels to Automated Plant and Production Line Control Panels.

Whether your business requires one off bespoke electrical control panels or the production of multiple units, our Automated Controls Facility can produce solutions ideally suited for a diverse range of industrial sectors from Telecommunication businesses all the way to operations in the Transportation and Agriculture sector.

Our Control Panel Services cover:

• Electrical Control Panel Design and Manufacturing.
• Instrumentation Control Panel Design and Manufacturing
• Fault rated motor control centres and LV Switchboards.
• Instrument/Pneumatic Control Systems.
• PLC/SCADA software design control package systems.
• Inverter-Drive and Networking solutions.
• CAD Drawings
• Site installation and commissioning

As part of the HF Group, we can offer our clients an unsurpassed level of genuinely in-house capabilities. With senior-level hands-on management from initial planning to final handover and the opportunity to tap into a wide range of services, all backed by a team of consultants with a skills base and command of technologies which are second to none.

To find out more about the work that we do in Automated Controls, please contact our Glasgow head office today. With branches in Glasgow, Edinburgh, Manchester, Belfast and Aberdeen, we operate nationwide in everything from Manned 24 hour call out services to the latest in 5G telecommunication services.