Preservation of system-critical structures

It is often necessary when making difficult prioritisation decisions to identify system-critical infrastructure. This is also true of the maintenance of hydraulic structures and their importance for federal waterways. In this context, system-critical structures are those that cannot be closed or that are responsible for ensuring navigability. An important example of structures that cannot be closed are weirs. Weirs are used to control water levels and they must function reliably as otherwise water levels will randomly fluctuate. Structures must be maintained in good time to ensure that they work properly. This issue is addressed by the ‘System-critical structures’ (SKB) project.

Currently, 38 weirs are classified as in need of repair and thus system-critical. The BAW works with the Federal Waterways and Shipping Administration (WSV) to create the conditions for fast and efficient planning. We support the entire repair process through to completion in order to identify and make optimisation potential usable for follow-up projects. We focus on standardising construction methods, components and processes. Project initiation steps, for example, have been standardised and minimum requirements for planning documents have been defined. We have produced materials that provide support with challenges relating to planning approval procedures, the required economic feasibility studies and cost estimates. Special multi-project management ensures that the necessary resources are provided for all 38 projects. The exchange of experiences between project participants has also been initiated. This is supported by monthly webinars on current topics from the projects.