World Canals Conference 2024
The city of Bydgoszcz in Poland welcomed more than 200 waterway experts and advocates to the World Canals Conference on 24-26, 2024. Delegates from across the world attended inspiring sessions with a wide variety of presentations on the Challenges between ecology and economic use – sustainable revitalisation of canals focusing on nature. The conference was reported by the Xinhua News Agency (Xinhuanet), with an excellent video, including interviews of our president Sharon Leighton, ex officio council member Huijun Wang, WCCO honorary Secretary General Qing Deng and former president David Edwards-May. The video includes some views of the Brda River which flows through the heart of Bydgoszcz.
River Lot navigation extended by unique travel-lift
On Thursday 13 June, IWI was present for the inauguration of a unique travel-lift between two specially-designed docks above and below Fumel dam on the river Lot in Southwest France. Heading downstream, the difference in level of more than 8 metres is overcome first by vertically lifting the boat to above ground level at the first dock, then transferring it via a gently sloping curved roadway down to the second dock, where the reverse operation is performed, the elevator lowering the boat into the water. The travel-lift can carry boats and small barges of up to 45 tonnes past Fumel dam, in roughly the same time it takes to pass through a lock.
The travel-lift solution was preferred to a canal bypass with two locks on cost grounds. However, the engineers have designed the docks so that they can be transformed into locks if upgrading is justified in the future, depending on how tourist traffic develops along the river.
The project was carried out by the infrastructure directorate of Lot-et-Garonne département, and opens access for the first time to the neighbouring département of Lot, where the first section of the river was restored and opened to navigation in 1991.
The Lot-et-Garonne département is now actively studying the various solutions for restoring the connection to the river from the Canal de Garonne, without which both hire boats and private boats are unable to enter the river, unless they use costly road transport.
The Lot département, for its part, is studying the solutions to complete the missing link between the 120 km of the Lower Lot and the 75 km of the existing navigation from Luzech to Larnagol. This would make a total continuous length of 202 km, as shown by the map below, from Inland Waterways of France, 9th edition.
More than 150 people attended the inauguration, and the elected representatives of the two départements and local councils expressed their intense satisfaction and optimism for the boost from tourism in this part of the Lot valley, which suffered heavily from the closure of the large steelworks in Fumel in the 1980s. [14/06/2024]
New canal to boost combined transport in SW China
During his visit to Guilin in China, on June 1, 2023, IWI’s president Rudy Van der Ween was shown the works in progress to create a new waterway in Southwest China, the Pinglu Canal. The new canal, to open in 2026, is expected to boost combined transport in Guangxi Province and beyond, reducing the distance for waterborne freight from Beibu Gulf to the provincial capital Nanning by no less than 565 km.
Rudy also visited the historic connecting canal between the Yangtze and Pearl River basins, the Lingqu Canal, at the invitation of our new member the Lingqu Canal Museum, and Guangxi Province. The Lingqu Canal city of Guilin and the town of Xing’an at its entrance will host the World Canals Conference in 2026.
IWI declares position on climate change
Recognising the serious impact that climate change is having on our environment, IWI Council adopted the following declaration at their meeting in March 2023.
We, members of Inland Waterways International, are deeply concerned about the growing threat of climate change to our inland waterways.
Inland waterways are a crucial component of our planet’s ecosystem, providing essential services such as transportation, irrigation and recreation.
However, waterways are increasingly under threat from rising temperatures droughts, and more frequent and extreme flooding, all caused by climate change.
We recognise that the effects of climate change on our inland waterways are already evident in many parts of the world. We are witnessing reduced water flows, increased water temperatures, and changes in aquatic ecosystems. These impacts have far-reaching consequences for our communities, economies and the environment. Recognising the urgent need to address the impact of climate change on our planet, and the role that inland waterways play in mitigating and adapting to these impacts, we, Inland Waterways International, declare our commitment to:
- promoting sustainable practices in the use and management of inland waterways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and enhance resilience to climate change impacts;
- advocating for the protection and restoration of natural habitats and
- biodiversity along inland waterways to enhance carbon sequestration and support ecosystem services;
- collaborating with stakeholders across sectors and borders to develop and implement innovative solutions for climate change adaptation and mitigation in inland waterways;
- supporting research and knowledge sharing on the impacts of climate change on inland waterways to inform decision making and promote evidence-based policies and practices;
- encouraging public awareness and engagement on the importance of inland waterways for addressing the challenges of climate change and promoting their role in sustainable development.
We therefore call upon governments, waterway authorities and civil society organisations to take urgent action to address the challenge of climate change on our inland waterways.
Objectives
IWI brings together people and organisations who support the conservation, use, development and proper management of inland waterways worldwide. It aims to raise public awareness of the benefits of using waterways for a wide range of activities, from inland water transport to cruising, towpath walking and other recreational uses, as well as appreciating their architectural and landscape values as heritage. It also promotes restoration, where appropriate, of waterways which have become derelict.
Its membership includes leading navigation authorities, as well as voluntary bodies, museums and commercial companies. Individual members include both users and experts in the various disciplines.
All have a keen interest in both the history and the modern significance of inland waterways for commercial carrying and recreational use. Today the membership covers 26 countries from around the world.
Giant Niederfinow ship lift opens in Germany
A milestone in development of the European waterway network for 3000-tonne barges and push-tows was marked on Tuesday October 4, 2022, when the 36m-high Niederfinow shiplift was officially opened.
The first vessel to pass through the new lift, with its striking architecture, was the Waterway Authority’s own icebreaker Frankfurt. Barges and tankers up to 115m long can now transport cargoes between the Polish port of Szceczin and Berlin and far beyond. When we visited the site in May 2022, before attending the World Canals Conference in Leipzig, we saw that even a single-barge Polish push-tow had to split to pass through the original lift, opened in 1933, with its usable length of only 83.50m.
Thanks to the new lift, completing more than 40 years of works throughout the Mittelland Canal and the Havel-Oder Canal from the Rhine to the river Oder, Berlin is now uniquely placed for a revival of its historic status as a strategic inland port. The new lift will significantly boost waterborne trade between the Polish port of Stettin and Berlin, including river-sea vessels. Such vessels are expected to expand trade with the Scandinavian countries and the UK.
It took 14 years to build the new lift, since the initial designs had to be modified several times. The cost thus increased to 520 million euros. The boat lift is so unique that German engineers advised the Chinese builders of the Three Gorges Dam with their 112m-high boat lift. However, construction time for the Chinese lift was much shorter, and it opened in 2015.
Completion of the Niederfinow lift coincides with the current need to expand Europe’s transport infrastructure and diversify its sources of raw materials. In the context of Europe’s current energy crisis, the waterway could be used by tanker barges carrying liquefied natural gas from the terminal at Świnoujście, Poland, which is expected to increase its LNG output by a third in 2023. A large container terminal at Świnoujście is also expected to generate waterborne container traffic to inland terminals on the route to Berlin and beyond, including to the Czech Republic.
German Transport Minister Volker Wissing said at the opening ceremony that the lift is also of vital importance to the environment: ‘The more traffic we move from roads to waterways, the fewer trucks there will be on the roads. This will reduce emissions, traffic congestion and noise.’
Thomas X. (Tom) Grasso, 1940-2022
It is with great sadness that we announce that that Tom Grasso, IWI’s President between 2003 and 2008, died on Monday June 6 after a long illness. Read a short obituary here, which will be completed by a special page paying tribute to his achievements. Tom will be sorely missed by his many friends in IWI and far beyond.
Low Impact Navigation Group
IWI’s recently renamed Alternative Fuels Group, now the Low Impact Navigation Group aims to promote methods to accelerate the transition of personal and commercial water craft used on inland waterway toward clean and sustainable propulsion systems. Its audience is the boating public as well as commercial interests, corporations and legislative agencies.
Its goal is to provide information on the latest technologies and best practices to these audiences so that they can make the best informed decisions about how to reduce carbon emissions from marine propulsion. The Committee is chaired by Simon Boyde. See Low Impact Navigation page
Pioneering electric boat on the Seine in 1881 (from Kevin Desmond’s book Electric Boats and Ships: a History)
IWI at Boot Düsseldorf
The Inland Waterways Pavilion assembled by IWI for members at Boot Düsseldorf attracted great interest. See a film made by the Serbian Nautical TV channel Nautika TV. The focus is on Danube Propeller stand, but the video gives an excellent overview of the whole pavilion. Danube Propeller & IWI 2019 at boot Düsseldorf – NAUTIKA TV Show Presentation
Navigating a Changing Climate
IWI is a member go the ‘Think Climate’ coalition under the auspices of PIANC (the The World Association for Waterborne Transport Infrastructure), working on a far-reaching initiative Navigating a Changing Climate. The coalition members believe that it is essential to adapt inland and maritime navigation infrastructure; uncertainty can no longer be used as an excuse for inaction. The evidence is unequivocal. Climate change is happening. Adaptation of inland and maritime navigation infrastructure is vital, and the time to act is now. See the coalition web site here. A global declaration on climate change adaptation for transport was presented at COP22 in Marakech, Morocco, on November 17th, 2016. The coalition also includes the International Association of Ports and Harbors (IAPH), the International Harbour Masters’ Association (IHMA), the International Maritime Pilots’ Association (IMPA), the International Bulk Terminals Association (IBTA), the European Dredging Association (EuDA), the Smart Freight Centre (SFC), the European Sea Ports Organisation (ESPO) and the Institute of Marine Engineering, Science & Technology (IMarEST).
Join IWI
Members receive regular news of campaigns and developments in all areas through the magazine World Wide Waterways and newsletter IWI News.
Information is also regularly posted on our blog and Facebook page Inland Waterways International – IWI
IWI officers
President
Rudy Van der Ween – Belgium
Vice-presidents
Sharon Leighton – USA
Paul Ayres – UK
Past President, Managing Editor
David Edwards-May – France
Liaison World Canals Conference and World Canal Cities Organisation
Dave Ballinger – Canada
Secretary
Di Harris – UK
Finance Officer
Norman Smith – France
IWI Council Members at the gala dinner of the World Canals Conference in Athlone, Ireland, from left to right: Barbara Sheridan (US), Paul Ayres (UK), Norman Smith (UK), Dave MacDougall (Canada), Mike Miller (Ireland), Peter Linssen (Netherlands), Sharon Leighton (US), David Edwards-May (France), Colin Becker (Ireland), Dave Ballinger (Canada), Linda Barth (US), Rudy Van der Ween (Belgium), Roger Squires, Di Harris and David Wadham (UK). The other Council members are Edo Bricchetti (Italy), Krsta Paskovic (Serbia), Mike Clarke (UK), Benny Ruus (Sweden) and Bill Miles (US).
Photo by Bob Naylor, Watermarx
