TODAY Tele readers get an exclusive insight into the vital work that has saved the historic sugar sheds at James Watt Dock.

The £3.7m project to make the sheds wind and watertight has gone according to plan and the crucially important project will be fully complete by October.

It means Scotland"s largest surviving cast-iron and brick industrial building is finally secure - and ready to be the centrepiece of Riverside Inverclyde"s bold 107-acre development at the dock.

George Hunter, the urban regeneration company"s head of operations, said: 'The work has safeguarded the building, shored it up, addressed all the rot, water penetration and collapsing flooring.

'That task is enormous and it all comes at a hefty price - but now the building is future-proofed.' Mr Hunter and senior site officials took the Tele on a behind the scenes tour so we can show readers what has been going on inside. The specialised, arduous nature of the preservation work becomes immediately apparent upon entry to the cavernous building, where there are currently around 30 men on site.

Working in confined spaces, the crews have been carrying out the work that will tie the A-listed building together, paving the way for the £400,000 temporary support structure - which currently props it up - being removed later this year.

The painstaking attention to detail required by agencies such as Historic Scotland has been paramount during the project - and has salvaged impressive features for the future.

They include the rail tracks that once carried trains through the building and which now peek through between remarkably unscathed-looking cobbles.

Mr Hunter said: 'Retaining original features like the cobbles could eventually allow the space to be used to create a saltmarket or fishmarket feel, because it will keep the atmosphere.

'This project is a good example of taking a building and doing something constructive with it. The idea is to retain the best of what"s here, incorporate it into the design and build on it.' Original brickwork is also being repaired and the huge metal doors retained, while the building"s cast-iron window frames remain intact after being sandblasted to check they are structurally sound.

Senior site official Peter McConnell, a building surveying partner for Speirs Gumley, said: 'The slate taken from the roof has been packed away in boxes ready to be retained.

'Old imperial-size bricks have been taken off, cleaned and put back up. We have also had cast-iron guttering specially manufactured. And it"s taken a lot of tidying up just to make the floor look the way it is now, with loads of muck, sugary fluid and oil taken out.' Even what will be stripped out is still being put to use in the meantime - a lift shaft which wasn"t part of the original building is currently serving as a rubbish chute for wet rot wood and other debris being cleared from above.

With what comes down, plenty more is going up - and it"s not straightforward.

As we climb into the upper reaches of the sheds, James Sutherland, supervisor joiner, explains how everything, including huge thick joists, have had to be physically carried into the top of the building - as the fork-lifts only get the materials so far.

Around 60 of them have been successfully installed, with 20 to follow.

During our access-all-areas guide we also learned about the fascinating history of the sheds, from the service tunnel which runs beneath the building, to the way sugar was offloaded and shuttled down into hoppers, and how the roof is not completely horizontal - having been deliberately designed that way.

Mr McConnell told the Tele: 'It is some building. I surveyed it 15 to 20 years ago when they were looking at mothballing it and you could still find sugar up in the roof timbers then. We"ll be away by the end of September but this has been a great project to work on.' When we enter Shed C, scene of a dramatic fire in 2006, it looks in decent shape despite the ferocity of the blaze which engulfed it, sending roofing crashing into the adjacent sheds.

But RI boss Mr Hunter said: 'The fire did not cause that much damage - what was left had been in pretty bad condition. It was years of neglect, inappropriate use and exposure that did the damage.' That deterioration has now been halted and put right - with all the safeguarding structural work to be finished by late September or early October.

Then the focus will shift towards the Tall Ships Races in two years time, with the area to be the hub for social and commercial activities during the event. It now looks more likely than ever the sugar sheds are set for a sweet future.

Mr Hunter said: 'There have been huge financial and technical challenges but this building is worth it - it means a great deal to people. It"s ingrained in the psyche of Inverclyde.'