Bottleneck Straubing – Vilshofen

The Rhine-Main-Danube waterway has a total length of 3,500 km. But there is a critical bottleneck between Straubing and Vilshofen of 69 km.

In this bottleneck section the water depth of 2.80 m, that means a draught of 2.50 m could not be achieved on 240 days in 1997. (For comparison: Kaub/Rhine on 18 days only!)

On 94 days the water depth was less than 2.0 m, which means a draught of 1.7 m only. But even an empty vessel has a draught of 1.5 m. On about 30 days the ships could not pass this bottleneck at all!

When developing the Danube section between Straubing and Vilshofen the following goals have to be achieved:

• Lasting improvement of the shipping conditions
• Prevention of further erosion of the Danube river
• Improvement of flood protection
• Conservation resp. reconstruction of areas of high ecological value

For this purpose the Rhein-Main-Donau AG developed – as a result of thorough investigations – a concept using two low dams with a height of only 3 m and a parallel canal of 9 km (see graphic "Danube section Straubing – Vilshofen).

This concept maintains the flow character of the river Danube in most parts of the section and allows to keep almost 12 km of the river free from shipping. It also creates a considerable volume of compensation areas in other sections. At the same time the draught of 2.5 m as a minimum condition for transport shipping could be guaranteed for the whole year.

The German association for environmental protection either rejects the development of this Danube section or calls for development measures similar to the former low water regulation, i. e. a combination of longitudinal and lateral groynes supporting the water level and an excavation and pavement of the river bottom against erosion.

Professor Ogris who claimed to achieve a draught of 2.5 m and a sufficient water-level width by using the afore mentioned low water regulation measures could not maintain this assertion and thus the environmental protection association now considers an improvement of the water depth 20 to 30 cm to be "absolutely sufficient". This is accompanied by the claim that the vessel have to be adapted to the bottleneck. But a conclusive concept for these demands does not exist at all.

Facing these difficulties the Federal Ministry of Transport and the Free State of Bavaria agreed upon a comprehensive investigation programme in October 1996. According to this agreement in the year 2000 a decision shall be made, which can be acccepted by all sides and in order to achieve this objective the following steps shall be taken:

1. Optimization of the water depth in the Danube section Straubing – Vilshofen by water regulating measures in order to guarantee general draught of 2.0 m, investment volume 24 million DM.
2. Water regulating and combined alternatives for development of this Danube section shall be thoroughly investigated once again.

The Deutsche Wasserstraßen- und Schiffahrtsverein (DWSV) is sceptical with regard to this investigation programme for the following reasons:

• The actual value of the findings of further investigations and tests in the nature for the section between Straubing and Vilshofen is very limited and ranges between centimeters only.
• Always new investigations require considerable funds and create delays of several years.
• The general consent as a result of these investigations will not be achieved, because with its policy of prevention the environmental protection association keeps its members busy and achieves public attention.
• Today the environmental protection association considers the dispute about the development of the Danube to be its most successful activity of recent decades.
• The sufferers from this policy of prevention are not only the shipping companies and its employees but also forwarding agents and the ports and communities along this waterway.
• Moreover this creates large disadvantages for the enviroment because the environmentally beneficial inland navigation cannot develop its full efficiency. This has also negative consequences for all citizens who are already suffering from more and more crowded roads.