Mainly on the Elbe River - Central Europe

At the present state, the continuous waterway (with a certain exception of the Střekov – Dolní
Žleb section) ends in Chvaletice. To prolong navigability to Pardubice, realization of the navigable
lock Přelouč II needs to be approved but it is currently suspended due to not granted exception
from the environmental protection of species by the Ministry of Environment despite the
confirmative conclusions of the EIA process and the legitimate territorial verdict. Realization of
the Přelouč II navigable lock project will extend the Elbe waterway from Hamburg to Pardubice by
870 km and it will provide connection with other modes of transported via the Pardubice port.
Improvement of navigation conditions on the Czech part of the Elbe river would significantly
improve position of waterway transport within the transport market. Possibility to choose from
three transport modes for logistics of chemical materials and products would furthermore
strengthen the position of the Czech chemical industry in the world market. Beside the
economic aspects, pollution of harmful carbon dioxide and noise would be decreased.
In the future, the D-O-E corridor is supposed to be one of the Czech major waterways within the
trans-European waterway network. Realization of this project presents significant all-European
importance (shortening the route from Baltic ports to the Danube and further to the Black Sea).
Lately, the importance of the D-O-E corridor is increasing in following aspects:
- the trans-European traffic route connecting the European network of waterways will
provide the CR with a quality access to seas and sea ports and will enable construction of
multimodal logistic centers and industrial zones,
- economic development along the D-O-E corridor (urbanization, agriculture, sports,
tourism, electric energy source and moderator, protection from floods, other water utilization,
territorial system of ecologic stability)
- anti-flood actions and water management with growing importance in the perspective of
recent destructive floods
- energetic aspects (possibility to cumulate redundant energy)
- European investments funded by resources for major infrastructure of essential European
importance.
By improving navigability on the Elbe river, the transport capacity to North Sea ports can
be gained in coming years, which will reach 8,5 million tons/year and which will have
essential impact on future predicted capacity deficits of other modes of transport. Other
major importance of the Elbe waterway is in transportation of strategic commodities, such
as liquefied natural gas (LNG), oil, coal and hydrocarbon emulsions.
A feasibility study for “Improvement of Conditions for the River Transport in Central Europe (mainly on the Elbe
River)“ realized within the ChemLog project 190