Submerged below water's surface for examination
A significant expansion project is underway for the Kiel Canal at Schinkel. The operation is being led by the green cutter suction dredger "Peter the Great," a 60-meter long vessel from Belgian company Deme. The dredger is excavating soil from the canal's depths to make way for a wider and deeper waterway.
In the first phase, a four-kilometer section will be dredged to a water depth of four meters, with a subsequent deeper phase of eleven meters. The project requires the removal of approximately 2.5 million cubic meters of dredged material, with 1.1 million cubic meters being transported to the Baltic Sea. The estimated completion time for the project is around one year.
The expansion works aim to widen the Kiel Canal's bed from 44 meters to 70 meters. The first construction phase is expected to cost approximately 120 million euros, with an additional 380 million euros for the subsequent sections, slated for completion by the end of the decade.
The Kiel Canal, connecting the North Sea to the Baltic Sea, is one of the world's busiest artificial waterways. Regular maintenance and upgrades are necessary to maintain its navigability and efficiency. In recent years, the canal has seen improvements in its locks and dredging to accommodate larger ships.
For more detailed information about the Schinkel expansion, such as specific timelines, costs, and scope, it's recommended to consult official sources or recent news releases related to the Kiel Canal. Organizations like the German Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure, or the Waterways and Shipping Administration (WSV), may provide more in-depth information on ongoing or planned projects.
In the scope of this project, it's forecasted that the Kiel Canal's bed will transition from 44 meters to 70 meters, an expansion necessitated by the rise in technology-advanced and finance-sustained vessel traffic in the industry sector. The initial phase of this transformation will involve dredging a four-kilometer section to a depth of four meters, followed by a deeper phase of eleven meters, with an anticipated cost of 120 million euros, and additional costs for subsequent sections anticipated by the end of the decade.
