[ad_1]
Because the water was dangerously drained, Stephen and Torsten Mnichai worried about whether it was worth transporting up to 1,000 tons of potassium salt to the BASF SE chemical plant, a lucrative order for the family business. If the water level drops further during a few days of travel in mid-August, you run the risk of running aground. The siblings who had doubted for a long time finally called their mother.
“It feels good,” says Stephen, 28, whose mother spent 27 years on board, raising him and eight other siblings. “She felt it, so we’ll be fine.”
However, not every Rhine company has a smart river oracle next door, so Germany is working to ensure smooth trade on this critical artery. The multi-faceted effort includes a complex model of the most troublesome section, ship redesign, and even new locks that were once considered taboo. There was a bit of a rush after the waters that had been discharged two years ago forced the shipment to a practical stop.
“2018 woke us up,” says Jelle Vreeman, a boat broker at the mouth of the Rhine in Rotterdam. – It will happen again. The German authorities have no choice but to resolve the matter once and for all. “
Nestled in medieval fortresses and rooted in German legends, the Rhine is an integral part of the country’s mysticism and an important element of today’s competitiveness. About 30 percent. German coal, iron ore and natural gas are transported on this river, alongside which there are factories that receive the products just before the start of production. 2018 disruption contributed to the contraction of the German economy.
The Rhine provides inexpensive transport to the European industrial center, which winds some 1,300 kilometers through the industrial zones of Switzerland, Germany and the Netherlands and then empties into the North Sea. There is no viable alternative. An average barge can carry 2,500 tonnes, while hauling the same cargo by road would require more than 110 trucks, clogging Germany’s already congested road and rail network.
Maintaining a reliable flow of goods and raw materials is crucial, especially now that China is trying to strip Germany of its position as a leader in advanced manufacturing. Duisburg’s massive inland port, located on the Ruhr River, which empties into the Rhine, is the culmination of China’s one-way, one-lane infrastructure initiative.
Volker Wissing, the Transport Minister for Rhineland-Palatinate, where BASF is headquartered, is suspicious of the construction of new plants in China and India, concerned that German industrial power will weaken as the Rhine shipping is affected. . Climate change could make summers drier and reduce supplies of melting water in alpine glaciers, making river levels even more volatile.
“We need to ensure that Germany remains an important industrial location,” Wissing said, emphasizing that barge transport is more environmentally friendly than trucks or trains.
In the land it represents, we find the romantic Middle Rhine Valley, where the Lorelei cliffs tower over passing ships. This is the most difficult stage for captains like the Munich brothers. As they took turns driving the rock through the rocks last month, the depth gauge showed less than a meter of water in places below the keel.
In this part of the Rhine, the German government wants to scrape some protruding rocks and change the current so that ships can carry an additional 200 tons or more. However, this plan is not that simple.
Engineers must balance high and low water situations, shipping needs, and environmental concerns. Due to the complex currents and topography of the river bed, the German authorities had to create a model the size of a basketball court.
“I don’t think anyone has ever built something like this,” says Christoph Heinzelmann, director of the German Federal Institute for Waterway Engineering and Research, showing the 90-degree curve of the Rhine and every detail of the river bed.
The water flows through the model, carrying with it red and white particles that symbolize sand and gravel. One problem quickly becomes apparent: sediment builds up in the corner, blocking one side, while sharp rocks restrict passage on the other.
“Getting this part of the Rhine in order is a hydraulic engineering Olympiad,” says Ch. Heinzelmann. “We know we will be successful in the end, but we still cannot say which is the best path.”
Cleaning up the sand would not be a long-term solution, as the river will soon bring it back and regular excavation would block the waterway, defeating the entire purpose of these efforts. Therefore, engineers are considering changing the flow of the river below the surface to accumulate less sediment.
Another part of the plan is the conversion of ships. The German government is willing to subsidize the modification of old barges for 2021. optimize them for lower water levels, an idea that is currently being reviewed by the European Union. Another project involves equipping barges with sensors to help detect irregularities in the river bed.
Such a course would be supported by environmentalists. In the worst case, the flow of the river would have to be interrupted by new locks, an old idea revived by the German Transport Minister Andreas Scheuer. It is viewed with great controversy, and Mr. Scheuer’s colleagues at the Environment Ministry have rejected such a plan.
But for those running up and down the river, like the Mnich brothers, any measure just to avoid 2018 is worth considering a recurrence of the situation.
As they made their way up the river, they powered their outdated barge, which is better suited for shallow water because it is small compared to more modern boats, as fast as possible to get through the rocky parts of the river until the water submerges again.
When they got to the rocky part, some rocks were sticking out of the water here and there, but his mother was right. The river was flooded enough for them to pass.
“I wouldn’t mind the lock if it helped us plan safer routes,” says Stephen Mnich. “But I’m not sure that the economic benefits outweigh the environmental impact.”
[ad_2]
