Infrastructure

With 7300 km of inland waterways, Germany has an economically-efficient network of waterways with many waterway engineering structures, such as locks, weirs, ship lifts, water bridges, culverts and bridges. Structures such as bank revetments and groynes also form an essential part of the waterway infrastructure. This complex system must be kept in the best shape possible and modernised.

Thirty-two percent of locks and 28 percent of weirs are more than 100 years old and the intensive impact of the environment and operation have left their mark. The wear and tear on many waterway structures is so profound that they require extensive repair or need to be rebuilt entirely. The economic demands and ecological pressures on modern waterway infrastructures have also changed.

Cost, capacity and planning realities are such that not all structures can be quickly rehabilitated or replaced, especially as in many cases such work needs to be performed during ongoing ship operations. The BAW's tasks therefore also include realistically assessing existing structures so that the data needed for well-founded decisions can be provided, and the means of prioritising measures developed.