The World Canals Conference reverted to an on-site event in June 2024 after an on-line version in 2023. The event was based in Bydgoszcz in the Kujawsko-Pomorskie region of Poland, where the Rivers Brda and Wisła (Vistula) meet, along with the old and new Bydgoszcz Canals.
Inland waterways can play a pivotal role in the EU’s efforts to decarbonise the transport system, according to the Council of the European Union. In December 2022, the Council voted to approve the conclusions of the NAIADES III report on ‘Ongoing development of inland waterways transport’.
IWI is a member go the ‘Think Climate’ coalition under the auspices of PIANC (The World Association for Waterborne Transport Infrastructure), working on a far-reaching initiative Navigating a Changing Climate.
A milestone in development of the European waterway network for 3000-tonne barges and push-tows was marked on Tuesday 4 October when the 36m-high Niederfinow shiplift was officially opened, on the Havel-Oder Canal.
The first vessel to pass through the new lift, with its striking architecture, was the Waterway Authority’s icebreaker Frankfurt. Barges and tankers up to 115m long can now transport cargoes between the Polish port of Szceczin and Berlin and 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.
Impressive progress is being made on the most ambitious waterway restoration project in France, the 270km long river Lot. Although massive hurdles remain to be overcome at the large hydroelectric dams – Fumel, Luzech and Cajarc – the project conceived in 1973 by Christian Bernad, president of the Association Aménagement Vallée du Lot, is moving slowly but surely towards eventual completion. The above map shows
It is sad how ideas conceived with the best of intentions by local politicians sometimes go hopelessly wrong because their implementation is dictated by trends and political expediency. Visiting Chanaz on May 6, I discovered this impressive addition to what is already a superb site, and one of my top 10 waterside villages in France. This is at the western end of the Canal de
Former IWI president Tom Grasso has been campaigning for eight years to bring back to life the enlarged (1842) Erie Canal in downtown Rochester, NY. The World Canals Conference was held here for the second time in September 2010. ‘The event took us a dramatic and profound step forward in terms of raising awareness of the Erie Canal’s potential today, its robustly storied past and
Parks Canada’s heritage canals are open as usual this year despite the severe budget cuts imposed on the organization. (post updated by Dave Ballinger on May 21) It was announced by the Minister of the Environment the Hon. Peter Kent on Friday May 18 that the hours of operation for the heritage canals in Canada will remain the same for this year. In his statement
There is much concern in many parts of Europe, and especially on the secondary waterways in France, about maintenance of canal banks and the related issue of dredging. As author of the European Waterways Map & Directory, I adopted for that overview map the classification proposed by PIANC in 1999. This was later endorsed as UNECE Resolution No. 52, at the initiative of several organisations,
South Korea will soon be celebrating completion of the 19km long Gyeong-In Waterway from the river Han west of the capital Seoul to the Western Sea just north of the port of Incheon. The canal has been in operation for nearly a year, but we have just heard that the official opening ceremony and related events have been programmed for Friday May 25. These images
… and all who use them! Welcome to IWI’s blog! The association, founded in 1995*, aims to raise awareness of the value of navigable rivers and canals in many of the densely-populated regions of the planet. Lobbying for governments’ attention and spending on waterways for moving freight and all their other functions is a constant challenge. The other transport modes carry more weight in corporate
A protest rally of boats was organised at Tupigny and Originy-Saint-Benoite, on the Canal de la Sambre à l’Oise, on April 22-24, to stimulate interest in reopening of this valuable link in the European waterway network. The canal has been closed since 2006 when the 50m long Vadencourt aqueduct presented a risk of failure (photo by Michael Clarke). Repairs were to be carried out in
IWI is pleased to announce the appointment of Benny Ruus and Mike Miller as full members of its Council.
IWI member Danube Propeller took part in the ‘Danube Day’ celebrations in Bezdan (Vojvodina, Serbia) on June 29, 2011 The event brought together seven local associations, all with a keen interest in restoration of the entrance lock to the Danube-Tisa-Danube canal system. Hence the question mark held by one of the Danube Propeller crew on this boat on the Danube side of the lock. The
The first stop of IWI’s tour of Bohemia and Saxony, on Thursday 7th April, 2011, was half way along the route of the Saale-Elster Canal. For a canal on which works stopped in 1942, the completed part offers all the appeal of a well-maintained inland waterway. See Bohemia/Saxony 2011 Tour