With the increasing heat and dry periods, there is a risk of low water levels on the Rhine again. This is slowing down the transport of goods by water for many companies.
The entrepreneurs of Rhineland-Palatinate are pushing for an expansion of the state’s waterways. The economy in Rhineland-Palatinate is very export-oriented, said Karsten Tacke, General Manager of the State Association of Entrepreneurs’ Associations (LVU), to the German Press Agency in Mainz. “Export means transport. Transport routes are of great importance to us.”
The many large companies located on the Rhine also organize their deliveries via waterways. “We notice that the rail and road are overloaded, so the waterways are the only alternative,” stressed the LVU’s managing director. The chemical industry, which is very important in Rhineland-Palatinate, makes intensive use of the waterways.
Concerns about low water levels
“Especially at times when the water levels in the Rhine fall below critical levels, it is all the more important that this important transport and waterway is preserved for us,” explained Tacke. The deepening of the Rhine and the compensation of shallows in some places is therefore of enormous importance for the companies. “We would like to see this problem addressed quickly,” warned the managing director. “We have talked about it a lot. We have to do it.”
However, such processes are very lengthy, Tacke admitted. “However, this is also proof that we in Germany need to move faster – also in these matters.” However, he believes that the issue of deepening the Rhine is on the right track. Federal Transport Minister Volker Wissing (FDP) is a Rhineland-Palatinate native through and through. “So I don’t think it will be forgotten.” The project is also of corresponding importance at the federal level.
Pro and con
There has been a long-standing discussion about deepening the shipping channel in the Middle Rhine. The idea is to deepen the shipping channel between St. Goar and Mainz from a guaranteed 1.90 meters to a constant 2.10 meters in relation to a defined water level. Environmentalists are very critical of the plan. Wissing, who was Minister of Transport and Economic Affairs in Rhineland-Palatinate for several years and is the current state leader of the FDP, has also described the Rhine as an important means of transport, but also as a complex ecosystem.
Source: Stern
