During this period, the Danube Waterways and Shipping Authority MDK all necessary construction and maintenance projects in order to minimise the restrictions on shipping between the Rhine and Danube. Depending on the scope of the project, the WSA is completely or partially draining eight of the 20 closed lock chambers on the Main-Danube Canal. This not only allows parts of the locks that are normally under water to be viewed for inspection, but also enables work to be carried out in these areas. For example, concrete or hydraulic steel components can be repaired there.
Many projects on the Main-Danube Canal
In Forchheim, the replacement of the upper and lower lock gates marks the completion of an important major project and a significant milestone in maintenance management. All 32 lock gates on the Main-Danube Canal have been replaced during the annual closure breaks since 2008, ensuring the long-term availability of the canal for decades to come.
The Aschaffenburg Waterway Construction Authority (WNA) prepares the replacement construction of the Erlangen lock at the same time and builds a temporary bridge over the canal in Kriegenbrunn for the construction of the new lock. In Berching, both the mechanical engineering at the Untertor and the electrical engineering are overhauled by FMS.
The large number of upcoming tasks illustrates that the WSA Donau MDK assumes numerous responsibilities along the more than 380 km long federal waterway between Bamberg and Jochenstein far beyond the closure period.
Volume of ten million euros
The order volume for the work on the Main-Danube Canal totals ten million euros. More than fifty orders are being processed, in some cases in a three-shift system, by more than one hundred and fifty external workers.
In addition to the services carried out in close co-operation with companies, the WSA Donau MDK carries out many essential maintenance works on structures, machinery and electrical engineering with almost three hundred of its own employees. Seven watercraft, twenty mobile cranes and five professional diving teams from WSA Donau MDK and other waterway and shipping authorities are deployed.
At the same time as the annual construction and maintenance programme of the WSA Donau MDK, other administrations and companies use this planned closure period to carry out work in the area of the waterway. This year, for example, part of the Frankenschnellweg bridge in Nuremberg will be demolished during this time.
Responsible up to the Austrian border
The WSA Donau MDK is responsible for the federal waterways Danube and Main-Danube Canal between Bamberg in Upper Franconia and Jochenstein on the German-Austrian border over a length of around 380 kilometres. The WSA is part of the Federal Waterways and Shipping Administration (WSV), an authority within the remit of the Federal Ministry for Digital and Transport Affairs (BMDV).
Christian Tiedt
Editor Travel
