WORK is beginning on the Monmouthshire and Brecon Canal with hopes for the “engineering wonder” to compete with similar tourist attractions.

Newport City Council is beginning an 18-month project next week, commencing today, Monday, starting with the installation of a new bridge across the pond at Fourteen Locks.

Residents should expect “varying levels of disruption” over the next year and a half including full or partial closures of the canal path and limitations on car parking, the council's website explains.

Workers will clear silt and vegetation from the water and reline the canal up to the boundary with Caerphilly County Borough Council.

Fourteen Locks Canal Centre is located at the top of the 14-level Cefn Flight of Locks which rises 160 feet in just half a mile.

Pedestrians and cyclists should notice an improvement in the track between the car park and tow path and the visitor centre, which allows visitors to experience a "virtual" journey along the canal, will get a modified access ramp.

But the visitor centre could be in line for a re-design with feasibility work set to take place at the same time.

The project is being funded by the UK Government’s Shared Prosperity Fund.