The Uig ferry terminal reopened today after a 10 day delay to the original schedule. The terminal was due to reopen on 13 March, but the site’s owner Highland Council said bad weather held up the work. The harbour was originally shut in January for repairs and work to adapt the pier to serve new larger ferries.

The works were to prepare for the replacement of the vessel linkspan – a structure connecting ferries to the shore – including new piled foundation structures.

The contract for the work was awarded by Highland Council to RJ McLeod in August 2021, following a tendering process that started in 2019 when the cost of the work was estimated at £30M based on designs developed by Aecom in 2018.

The wider project to upgrade the facilities at Uig Harbour is supported by an investment of up to £38M from the Scottish Government.

It will provide “robust” infrastructure which is more resilient to the weather and tidal conditions in Uig, and includes a new terminal building, marshalling area, waiting room and covered walkway to the vessel.

Chair of The Highland Council’s Economy and Infrastructure Committee,  Ken Gowans said: “The goal of this ambitious project is to have new infrastructure, which will maintain vital ferry services to our Island communities, completed in the summer of 2024.”

It is understood work will continue through the summer period prior to the second planned closure from 30 October to 11 December this year, to allow the new linkspan to be installed and commissioned for ferry services to resume before Christmas.

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