The Awards Keep Coming for Glasgow's Smart Canal

Glasgow's Smart Canal - a pioneering digital surface water drainage system that works to mitigate flood risk and unlock development potential in the north of the city, has won several prestigious awards in the past few months, most recently securing two accolades at the British Construction Industry Awards for 'Initiative of the Year' and 'Industry Transformation and Innovation Champions'.

This most recent success follows hot on the heels of the Smart Canal scooping the highly esteemed Greatest Contribution to Scotland gong at the Scottish Civil Engineering Awards. Organised jointly by CECA Scotland and ICE Scotland, the Scottish Civils Awards celebrates outstanding civil engineering achievement, innovation and ingenuity. With past winners including Dundee's V&A and the Queensferry Crossing, the awards honour engineering excellence in the built environment sector, showcasing the success of Scottish civil engineering and celebrating how it shapes and adds value to everyday life.

Earlier this year, Glasgow's Smart Canal also took the title of Best Innovation/Demand Management Initiative at the APSE Public Service Excellence Awards and was declared Sustainable Drainage & Flood Management Initiative of the Year at the Water Industry Awards.

Dynamically Managing Water Levels

Glasgow's Smart Canal combines the traditional Forth and Clyde canal infrastructure with modern technology to dynamically manage its water levels, providing a drainage system that helps with significant rainfall events. This innovative technology reduces the likelihood of localised flooding, opening up regeneration opportunities across five key development sites in the surrounding area.

More formally known as the North Glasgow Integrated Water Management System (NGIWMS), the drainage system uses sensor and predictive technology to provide early warning of wet weather before moving excess rainfall into stretches of the canal. Glasgow's Smart Canal has created 55,000 cubic metres of extra capacity for floodwater, which is the equivalent of 22 Olympic swimming pools.

Councillor Susan Aitken, Leader of Glasgow City Council and Chair of the Glasgow City Region City Deal Cabinet, said: "Glasgow's Smart Canal uses cutting-edge technology to effectively manage surface water which enables the building of new homes and businesses on land that historically has been unfit for development. It is very exciting to see such smart technology in operation in Glasgow - one of very few examples in the world - and I am delighted that this ground-breaking project which will play a key role in the continued regeneration of Glasgow's Canal and the north of the city has been recognised by peers and industry experts for its innovation and excellence."

The £17m Smart Canal project has been delivered by the council alongside Scottish Water and Scottish Canals through the Glasgow City Deal backed Metropolitan Glasgow Strategic Drainage Partnership (MGSDP). The wider project also benefitted from ERDF grant funding via Scotland's 8^th City - the Smart City and Green Infrastructure Intervention programmes.