📋 Tender Overview
The Czech Republic is advancing the preparation of one of the key transport projects of recent years. The ministers of transport the environment and agriculture today confirmed a coordinated approach to the preparation of the project and the subsequent cross-border environmental impact assessment (EIA) process during a joint meeting with their Saxon counterparts. If completed and all necessary permits are obtained construction could begin as early as 2029. The Decin navigation lock is intended to ensure long-term reliable navigability of the Elbe while maintaining high environmental protection standards.
The Decin navigation lock is part of the governments program declaration and a strategic investment for the Czech Republic with European significance. It addresses the long-problematic section of the Elbe between Usti nad Labem and the state border with Germany where low flows regularly limit water transport and hinder connections to the European network of inland waterways and North Sea ports.
The Decin navigation lock is a project where we must reconcile two legitimate public interests - the development of strategic transport infrastructure and rigorous environmental protection. That is why close cooperation among all involved ministries and open dialogue with our German partners is essential. This small variant of the weir will contribute not only to improving navigation conditions but also to better water retention in the landscape and thanks to a small hydropower plant to emission-free energy production. Total costs are estimated at six to eight billion crowns with approximately a quarter of this amount allocated for nature protection measures and compensation for the constructions impact on the environment said Environment Minister Igor Cerveny.
Inland water transport often represents the only technically and economically viable option for transporting heavy engineering units or oversized technological equipment to foreign markets. More stable navigability will thus improve the competitiveness of Czech companies support the development of logistics chains and enable more reliable connections of Czech ports to European waterways.
The state must not resign from infrastructure just because its preparation is complicated. It is our responsibility to seek solutions that stand up to technical legal and environmental scrutiny. This is exactly how we approach the Decin navigation lock as a project that must be prepared thoroughly with respect for nature and in close cooperation with our foreign partners. Its implementation should ensure predictable navigability conditions of the Elbe throughout the year. This will significantly contribute to the development of inland water transport in the Czech Republic fulfilling commitments arising from the international treaty on the Elbe and most importantly - creating conditions for shifting cargo from roads to more environmentally friendly modes of transport said Transport Minister Ivan Bednarik.
The Decin navigation lock is expected to ensure a minimum navigable depth of 140 centimeters for approximately 345 days in an average year. It includes the construction of a movable weir a navigation chamber and a small hydropower plant as well as extensive measures to support aquatic ecosystems including fish passages and river habitat revitalization.
Regulatory adjustments to the riverbed will also be part of the project which will ensure improved navigation conditions in the section from the state border to the Decin navigation lock and in the section from the end of the backwater to Usti nad Labem. The state enterprise Povodi Labe significantly contributes to the project thanks to its long-standing experience in managing the Elbe River and related constructions. It helps design solutions to ensure that the construction is safe reliable and ecological. Its important role will continue even after completion when the Decin navigation lock will become one of the objects in the already operated lock system on the Elbe waterway. For example it will oversee that the structure fulfills both transport and water management functions said Agriculture Minister Martin Sebestyan.
The project is now entering a new phase of preparation. After the preliminary discussion of the intention in May the Directorate of Waterways is completing the EIA announcement which will be submitted to the Ministry of the Environment in the autumn of this year. Subsequently the legal process of environmental impact assessment will begin which will also include an inter-state assessment with the Federal Republic of Germany. If the subsequent permitting processes continue according to the expected schedule construction of the Decin navigation lock could begin in early 2029 and be put into operation in 2033.
Today the Czech delegation presented the entire project and schedule in detail at a joint meeting with their Saxon counterparts - Minister for the Environment and Agriculture Georg-Ludwig von Breitenbuch and Soren Trillenberger State Secretary of the Free State of Saxony for Infrastructure and Regional Development. Both sides confirmed a joint approach to the subsequent cross-border EIA process.
The issue of water whether it is floods or drought is of great interest to us in Saxony - just as it is in the Czech Republic - in this continental part of Europe. We are experiencing climate change. For a long time we have been getting used to the fact that the Elbe is becoming less and less navigable. Therefore the reopening of this project is very positive news for us. We hope that a more even flow of water in the Elbe will bring benefits for the entire river from the Czech Republic to Hamburg and the North Sea - in terms of the economy tourism and the environment. The proposed compensation measures for nature are very balanced and well-conceived and we believe they will also contribute to further development of good cross-border relations said Saxon Minister for the Environment and Ag
