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Plan to Protect Danube Delta from Flooding
01 Feb 2007
The River Administration of the Lower Danube in Romania has awarded a DHV led consortium the contract for the design of the Sulina Channel Bank Protection project. The Sulina Channel runs through the Danube delta nature reserve and ensures the discharge of water and ice from the Danube River into the Black Sea.
The project comprises a two part design strategy. The first part aims at the protection of the Danube delta nature reserve against annual flooding from the Sulina Channel while the second is directed at reducing maintenance dredging on the shipping channel. DHV and its consortium partners ECORYS (Netherlands), DHI (Denmark) and Consitrans (Romania) will also be responsible for the tendering of the required bank protection and rehabilitation works.
The feasibility and design study will produce recommendations aimed at maintaining the delicate equilibrium between two elements. On the one hand, the influx of water and sediment from the Sulina Channel into the precious and fragile reserve; and on the other hand, the protection of this reserve against increased shipping levels and the consequently greater threat of pollution. Carefully designed bank protection and influx points are essential to adequately maintain this equilibrium. The bank protection will also make the Danube River more accessible for large coastal and inland vessels, as well as promote inland transport on the river. The project is partly financed by a loan from the European Investment Bank. The contract is valued at €1.2m and runs for 12 months.
By DAVID FOXWELL
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