Box 21B The Rhine­Main­Danube Canal

The opening of the Rhine­Main­Danube Canal in September 1992 marked the completion of one of Europe's most ambitious transport projects (see Map 21.2). The scale of its technical details is indeed impressive: during a construction time of about 30 years, more than DM 6 billion have been spent to create the 178 km linkage between Bamberg and Kehlheim in Bavaria (Sturm, 1992). The 60 m wide canal required the excavation of 100 million cubic metres of soil and went hand in hand with alterations of the Main as well as the Danube to allow larger ships to take this long awaited 'short cut' between the Black Sea and the North Sea (Bryson, 1992). For canal users, the transport distance and prices are roughly reduced to one tenth compared with the alternative passage through the Mediterranean Sea (Sturm, 1992).

However, the environmental impacts of the enterprise seem to be of a similar scale to its technical accomplishments. By cutting through some of the most scenic and environmentally sensitive landscapes in Germany, the canal has left a series of scars on the landscape. For example, in the

300 000 hectare Altmühltal Naturpark, 38 per cent of wetlands, 21 per cent of floodplain areas and 16 per cent of reedbeds had to be destroyed to make way for the canal (Weiger, 1992). Although DM 280 million have been invested to establish new habitats and carry out ecological designs, making it the world's most expensive landscape development scheme, the canal's negative impacts on the environment are far from being mitigated (Bryson, 1992). Accompanying projects, like the creation of 55 hydroelectric power stations (Bryson, 1992), land reforms for agricultural development plans (intensification), improved flood control (Koch and Vahrenholt, 1983) and recreational projects for several large artificial lakes have affected the natural balance in regions far beyond the direct impacts of the place of construction.


Map 21.2 - Location of the Rhine­Main­Danube Canal

Source: EEA-TF