Germany: Lack of money impedes expansion of the Moselle-river

Lack of sufficient budget resources upset the plans of building second lock chambers at the Moselle-river
 
The Federal Ministry of Transport in Berlin has stopped the construction of the second lock chambers on the Moselle-river due to lack of funds. They see themselves not able to present a "duty project plan". "There are no sufficient budgetary resources available to be able to perform the actions as planned. The federal government can currently give no confirmation for building the Moselle locks primarily to other important projects in personnel and budgetary terms in the next 20 years," reads a written statement by the Federal Ministry of Transport, which was presented to the Federal Association of German Inland Navigation Association (BDB).
 
So far, the Federal Ministry of Transport has seen the Moselle as a very important waterway because of existing and additionally projected volumes of goods. Therefore, the Ministry classified the Moselle in June 2012 – together with the Rhine and Main rivers – as part of its modernisation plan in the category of preferred waterways to be upgraded. In turn less frequented waterways were downgraded to pure “grandfathering”, with no further expansion planned. The aim of this strategy is to “lead” the money available for waterway infrastructure to rivers with high a transport demand to guarantee an "adequate quantitative and qualitative performance on a high level" and "to implement infrastructure improvements within reasonable periods of time," said the Federal Ministry of Transport.
 
The Moselle is the largest tributary river of the Rhine. It flows through France, Luxembourg and the German states of Saarland and Rhineland-Palatinate. The river until it reaches Neuves-Maisons was channeled by the Moselle’s riparian states in 1958, thus reinforcing it as a major waterway. Since then, it is one of the most important waterways in Germany and among the most used waterways in Europe. On the Moselle up to 16 million tons of cargo, are transported per year – mainly coal, agricultural and forestry products, as well as iron ore and scrap.
 
Since 2006, the expansion of the Moselle was being implemented with the construction of a second lock chamber each at all ten locks. However, this expansion was stretched due to staff shortages to at least 25 years, that is, the expansion plans provide for the completion of the last lock at earliest in the year 2031.

Quelle: LogEastics

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