INLAND WATERWAYS NETWORK OF

EUROPE

AND THE CLASSIFICATION OF EUROPEAN INLAND

WATERWAYS

Prepared by, Caglar Ozpinar

INLAND WATERWAYS

FINLAND

The Finnish waterways are made up of four main networks of lakes and connecting

navigations, totalling 7842km, of which 814km are open to vessels drawing 4m or more.

Commercial traffic amounted to about 3 million tonnes in 2007, while about half a million passengers were moved on the inland waterways. Almost half of the above length is accounted for by the Saimaa or River Vuoksi basin, which extends from Lappeenranta in the

south-east to Nurmes and Iisalmi in the north (half way to the Arctic Circle!). This lake system was connected to the Gulf of Finland through the Saimaa Canal, first built in 1856 for a maximum capacity of about 300 tonnes. The so-called second building began in 1927 and

was almost 40% complete when the Winter War (1939-40) interrupted works. It was planned for vessels of 1000 tonnes. World War II stopped all works. The third building started in 1963

and the canal was opened to traffic in August 1968. It was planned for vessels of 1600 tonnes, but today vessels of maximum dimensions can carry 2500 tonnes. Finland leased the Soviet

(today Russian) part of the canal in 1963 for 50 years. The lease is thus to be renewed before

2013. In the Lake Saimaa area there are about 800km of deep water channels offering a draught of 4.2m.

The system has been extended by the 70km long Nilsiä route (north of Kuopio) consisting of

two new locks in Juankoski, linking with one existing lock through to lake Syväri. This route, designed for pleasure boats and small passenger vessels, was opened in 2002.

The Finnish Transport Agency is examining technical solutions for lengthening the navigation

season on the Saimaa Canal, perhaps eventually keeping it open to navigation all year round.

AUSTRİA

Austria is served by the Danube over a total distance of 329km (km 2201.75 to 1872.70) of

which 20.2km is shared with Germany at the upstream end and 7.5km with the Slovak

Republic at the downstream end. Most of this length has been developed for high-capacity

navigation (Class VIb), with a pair of locks 230m by 24m at each of the nine hydropower

dams. However, free-flow conditions prevail downstream of Melk for about 40km, and below

the last Austrian lock at Vienna Freudenau. The Danube thus remains a challenging waterway

for yachtsmen, who will enjoy the comfort of the many boat harbours. The Danube Canal in

Vienna is the only other navigation in Austria. It is a former arm of the river, hemmed in

between attractive stone quays through the city. It is entered on the right bank at km 1933.70,

through Nussdorf lock, and rejoins the Danube at km 1919.40. Total freight movements on

the Danube in Austria amount to about 2.4 million tonnes per year, of which roughly half is

domestic and half international.…

CZECH REPUBLIC

The Czech Government was for long committed to development of the transport

potential of its navigable rivers the Elbe (Labe) and Vltava, both of which were developed for

high-capacity inland shipping from about 1900. The route initially opened to Prague was

designed for 700-tonne barges drawing up to 1.8m, with pairs of 11m wide locks. Between

the wars Czechoslovakia continued the Elbe canalisation from the Vltava confluence

upstream to Kolin, with locks 85 by 12m to accommodate 1000-tonne barges. From the

1960s, new 190 by 12m locks for push-tows were gradually added, and the upper limit of

navigation was extended to Chvaletice and Pardubice. However, navigation is for the time

being limited to Chvaletice, pending completion of the new lock and weir at Prelouc.

The Danube-Oder-Elbe Water Corridor project for water management and navigation remains

alive, thanks to an intense lobbying effort in 2009, after years of government backtracking

under pressure from the environmentalist lobby. The Czech waterway authorities have

expressed their gratitude to Inland Waterways International for assistance in rejecting a

parliamentary motion which would have led to abandonment of all prospects of building the

Danube-Oder-Elbe waterways in the Czech Republic.

These canals may well not be built for many years, but the authorities and moderate members

of the Green Party believe that it makes sense to retain national ownership of the land, so that

the waterways can be built as soon as the economic, environmental and funding climate is

right. A week before the vote in July 2009, IWI President Dave Ballinger wrote to the Prime

Minister and seven ministers of the Czech Government, urging them "to accept the challenge

of ensuring that future waterway or canal developments and improvements are done in a

manner that is acceptable to the Czech Republic and the majority of its citizens. With a

history of waterway engineering to the highest standards, the Czech Republic could develop

and showcase the solutions proposed today, engineered and natural, in order to mitigate

environmental impacts, while at the same time acknowledging the strategic and economic

importance of inland water transport."

This letter posted in Canada, arriving on the Prime Minister's desk a few days before the vote,

helped to obtain this important result

ROMANIA

Rumania is by far the most important riparian state on the Danube, extending from km 1075

to the Black Sea. It is second only to Germany in tonnage carried (4M tonnes p.a.), followed

closely by Hungary. The river forms the border with Serbia down to km 845.65, then with

Bulgaria down to km 374.10. From km 134.14 to 79.17 the left bank is occupied by Moldavia

over 1km and Ukraine for 54km. The Rumanian and Bulgarian Governments have planned

improvements to secure better navigable conditions for inland shipping. Recreational boating

is slow to develop, and visiting boats report that conditions remain difficult in this recovering

country. Built between 1975 and 1984, the Danube-Black Sea canal links the Danube (south

of the town of Cernavoda) with the Black Sea (at Agigea - Constanta South) and shortens the

shipping route to Constanta by about 400 km.…

FRANCE

France has the longest waterway network in Europe outside Russia, with a total of 8800km of

navigable rivers and canals. The waterways evolved in three main stages (excluding here the

main rivers, which have always offered a degree of navigability in their natural state): Stage 1

- Original construction beginning with the Briare and Midi canals in the 17th century and

continuing into the 19th century, with variable dimensions, but mostly designed for vessels

carrying less than 150 tonnes. Stage 2 - The first modernisation, to 300-tonne canal standards,

voted by the National Assembly in 1879 at the initiative of Charles de Freycinet, Minister of

Public Works. This extensive plan involved construction of new canals and upgrading of the

main existing routes to minimum lock dimensions 38.50 by 5.20m, for a navigable draught of

1.80m and bridge clearance of 3.70m. New alignments were built on some canals with

elimination of locks, lowering of summit levels, new locks and aqueducts. Stage 3 - The

current modernisation to the European Class IV (or V) standards, since 1953. Roughly a fifth

of the total length of the network has thus been upgraded, essentially the main rivers and the

Dunkerque-Escaut Waterway, with new alignments and new high-capacity locks…

GERMANY

Germany provides, with Russia, the most vivid demonstration in Europe of how the economic

benefits of naturally navigable rivers can be extended over a vast territory by bold planning and construction of new waterways, starting in the late 19th century and continuing as we

enter the 21st. The way the network has been developed, and its vital importance for the economy, carrying about 235 million tonnes (65 billion tonne-km) of freight each year, provide the backdrop for the remarkable growth in recreational use of the waterways since the

1960s. Regional zooms in preparation (see also the European Waterways Map under Publications)…

The Elbe Aqueduct was opened in Magdeburg on October 10, 2003. High-capacity barges and

push-tows now proceed from the Mittelland Canal to the Elbe-Havel Canal and Berlin without having to drop down to the river Elbe, which offers limited depths.

NETHERLAND

The Netherlands has the densest network of inland waterways in Europe. About 6000km of

rivers and canals, many of the latter serving drainage as well as navigation, form a complex

system serving all parts of the country, but with widely varying characteristics, from the

tranquil 17th century trekvaarten to the extraordinarily busy Amsterdam-Rhine Canal,

completed in 1953. The main commercial waterways (Class IV and higher), with a total

length of 2200km, account for about 40% of international freight movements in the

Netherlands and 20% of domestic freight. These routes are so busy that one of the key issues

in development of Dutch waterways today is the provision of alternative routes and navigation

structures for recreational navigation. The busiest locks on the network see more than 50 000

boats passing per year. Planning to provide the best overall service to both commercial and

recreational users is complicated by the large number of separate waterway authorities. The

main network is state-owned and operated by the Rijkswaterstaat (address below), but the

smaller waterways, potentially offering attractive routes for recreational boating, are managed

by many different provincial authorities or drainage boards, for which navigation is often a

low priority…

POLAND

The network of Polish waterways, comprising navigable canals and canalised or free- flowing

rivers, as well as a number of interconnected lakes, is nearly 3650km long. Waterways of

international importance (classes IV and Va) represent only 1.9 and 3.0% of this length

respectively. Most waterways (59%) are Class I, for a carrying capacity limited to 180 tonnes

at a loading depth of 1.4m. In view of these restrictions, waterborne traffic accounts for less

than 1% of all inland freight movements in Poland. The main commercial waterways are the

Oder, the Vistula and the Vistula-Oder waterway. The rivers Bug and Wieprc are no longer

navigated to any significant extent. The most important waterways for tourism are the

Augustów and Warmia (or Elblanski) Canals. The Slesinski Canal is also potentially of great

interest, joining the Warta at its upstream limit of navigation to the Bydgoszcz Canal…

SWITZERLAND

Switzerland's interest in inland navigation is by no means limited to the Upper Rhine

and the spectacular lakes, many of which have regular passenger services. One of the earliest

attempts to build a summit level canal in Europe took place between Lake Neuch”tel and

Lake Geneva, and an association is still campaigning for construction of a high-capacity

Rhine-Rhone waterway on this route, also using the canalised river Aare. Sections of the

Upper Rhine may be used by powered craft, but there are many weirs and hydropower plants,

and the high waterfall at Schaffhausen. Canalisation with 12 new locks and a 650m long

tunnel has been planned since 1851, but such a scheme is unlikely to be approved in the short

term. The first 5 locks (above the existing two at Birsfelden and Rheinfelden) would open up

navigation to the Aare confluence at Koblenz…

BELGIUM

Belgium has a dense network of inland waterways crossing the country's two regions Flanders

and Wallonia from east to west and north to south. Much of the total length of about 1600km

is now a unified high-capacity network thanks to the vision of Gustave Willems, a former

minister of transport and president of PIANC, who in the post-WWII years conceived and

promoted vigorously the plan to rebuild all the main routes to European Class IV standard.

This massive undertaking has recently been completed, 50 years later, with opening in 2002

of the last link on the Canal du Centre, including the giant 73m high barge lift at Strépy-

Thieu. The old line, with its four hydraulic lifts now listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site,

is being kept open for recreational boating and trip boats…

CLASSIFICATION OF EUROPEAN INLAND WATERWAYS

The Classification of European Inland Waterways are a set of standards for

interoperability of large navigable waterways forming part of the Trans-European Inland

Waterway network within Continental Europe and Russia. It was created by the European

Conference of Ministers of Transport (ECMT;French: Conférence européenne des ministres

des Transports, CEMT) in 1992, hence the range of dimensions are also referred to as CEMT

Class I–VII.

The size for each waterway is limited by the dimensions of the structures including the locks and boat lifts on the route

Class I corresponds to the historical Freycinet gauge decreed in France during 1879. The

larger river classification sizes are focused on the carriage ofintermodal containers in convoys of barges propelled by a push-tug. Most of the canals of the United Kingdom have smaller

locks and would fall below the dimensions in the European classification system. In 2004, the

standards were extended with four smaller sizes RA–RD covering recreational craft, which had originally been developed and proposed via PIANC.[2] The proposal to add the

recreational sizes was adopted by United Nations Economic Commission for

Europe resolution 52

Classification Tonnage (t) Length

(m)

Breadth

(m)

Draught

(m) Air Draft (m) Notes

RA

5.5 2.00 0.50 2.00 "Open boat"

RB

9.5 3.00 1.00 3.25 Cabin cruiser

RC

15.0 4.00 1.50 4.00 "Motor yacht"

RD

15.0 4.00 2.10 30.00 "Sailing boat"

I 250–400 38.5 5.05 1.80–2.20 3.70 "Péniche"

II 400–650 50.0–55.0 6.60 2.50 3.70–4.70 Euro-barge

III 650–1,000 67.0–80.0 8.20 2.50 4.70 "Gustav

Koenigs"

IV 1,000–1,500 80.0–85.0 9.50 2.50 4.50; 6.70 "Johann

Welker"

Va 1,500–3,000 95.0–110.0 11.40 2.50–4.50 4.95; 6.70; 8.80

"Large Rhine"

Vb 3,200–6,000 172.0–185.0

11.40 2.50–4.50 4.95; 6,70; 8,80

1×2 convoy

VIa 3,200–6,000 95.0–110.0 22.80 2.50–4.50 6.70; 8.80 2×1 convoy

VIb 6,400–12,000 185.0–195.0

22.80 2.50–4.50 6.70; 8.80 2×2 convoy

VIc 9,600–18,000 270–280 22.80 2.50–4.50 8.80 2×3 convoy

9,600–18,000 195–200 33.00–34.20 2.50–4.50 8.80 3×2 convoy

VII 14,500–

27,000 285 33.00–34.20 2.50–4.50 8.80 3×3 convoy