There’s a lot going on in Northwest Bavaria. A symbolic ground-breaking ceremony has taken place at the Erlangen lock on the Main-Donau Canal. At the ceremony, Mareike Bodsch, Director of the Aschaffenburg Waterways Authority (WNA), welcomed numerous political representatives and the project owner, as well as many companies involved in the construction – among them, construction firms Züblin and BAUER Spezialtiefbau GmbH. Attendees included Dr. Claudia Elif Stutz (State Secretary at the Federal Ministry of Transport), Joachim Herrmann (Bavarian Minister of the Interior), Joachim Abratis (Vice President of the General Directorate for Waterways and Shipping, GDWS), and Thorsten Glauber (Bavarian Minister of the Environment and Consumer Protection).
The lock dates back to the 1970s and is now being replaced by a new structure 300 meters north of the existing facility which remains in operation for the duration of the work. The complex construction project, with a contract value of approximately 380 million euros, is having to be carried out within a water protection area and is scheduled for completion by 2033. The construction of the project as a so-called “water-saving lock” means that approximately 60% less water is consumed with every lock passage. Work on the sister lock in Kriegenbrunn, located just a few kilometers away, began in 2024 and is scheduled for completion in 2032. The eventual completion of both locks will secure the connection from the Black Sea all the way to the North Sea region.
WTM Engineers has been planning the two identical sister locks since 2010 in collaboration with KHP König und Heunisch Planungsgesellschaft and Schömig-Plan, and we are providing ongoing support as consultants to the WNA during the construction of both locks.
