INLAND WATER TRANSPORT. Transport by navi gable waterways in the last years before the World War reached very high figures indeed. In 1875, 10,40O,00o tons were carried by water in Germany; in 191o, 64,750,00o tons. The bulk of the increase was on the large rivers and canals; the less important waterways showed no advance, and in some cases actually a f alling off. In the Netherlands and Belgium the ports of Rotterdam, Amsterdam and Antwerp benefited by the great development of Rhenish industry in Germany, the Rhine being admirably suited for carrying both ores and coal. In the riparian states of the Danube the movement of industrial products downstream and of cereals and oil upstream has produced a similar increase in water borne traffic. See also UNITED STATES, Inland Water Ways.
This general development of traffic by navigable waterways everywhere led to the undertaking of important hydraulic work in the construction of new waterways and the improvement of existing ones. Steps were taken to regulate and canalize rivers; canals were cut to link up important rivers; existing canals were enlarged so as to be navigable by vessels of larger tonnage; and gradually a whole network of navigable waterways has spread over central and western Europe. The total length of the navi gable waterways in France before the war was more than II,000 kilometres. In Germany it exceeded Io,000. The capacity of the German waterways was on the whole greater than that of the French, since many of the canals in France were navigable only for vessels of 30o tons or less.
Furthermore, governments in some cases used the railways to establish new currents of transport, which had become desirable in consequence of altered frontiers, or to help national seaports to compete with foreign seaports. Sometimes, too, by instituting competitive rates on the railways, governments tried to obtain larger receipts which would enable them to meet the deficit of the railway budget. Another factor which unfavourably affected the financial results of inland navigation concerns was the absence of proper upkeep of the waterways during the years 1914-18. Rivers which require constant attention suffered to a large extent in this respect, and it proved impossible to employ the rivercraft to their full capacity.
But the main cause of the bad conditions of inland navigation after the war was that financial and economic crises, the insta bility of the exchanges, and general impoverishment did not allow the resumption of transport which had been expected. Never theless, general improvement gradually took place.
In France the total amount of goods carried on rivers and canals, which was 41,896,754 tons in 1913, was only 21,500,00o in 192o. In 1924 the figure had risen to 36,758,00o tons, traffic assuming large dimensions in the north of France, especially in regard to the port of Strasbourg. The following figures for the port of Paris may be noted: in 4,786,649 tons were loaded and 11,709,824 tons unloaded; the figures for 1924 were respec tively 2,769,166 tons and 10,221,228 tons.
The total traffic for the Rhine, which in 1913 was tons, had fallen in 1918 to 25,608,609 tons and by 1923 as low as 16,608,609 tons. In that year—a quite abnormal one, certainly, owing to the Ruhr occupation—traffic through the port of Duis burg-Ruhrort, which in 1913 was about 26,000,000 tons, and which was still 14,000,000 tons in 1922, fell to 3,980,412 tons.
The situation is exactly the same as regards traffic across the German-Dutch frontier near Lobith. Over 37,000,00o tons in 1913, it fell in 1918 to scarcely 5,000,000 tons, but by 1924 had risen again to 23,000,000 and in 1925 to about 40,000,00o tons. In 1926 (year of British coal strike) the traffic amounted to 52,000,000 tons of which nearly 38,000,00o was downstream.
On the Danube, in 1911, the total movement of goods was 6,802,639 tons and, in 1924, 3,757,010 tons. The year 1925 showed a considerable increase in traffic.
The same effects are observable in Russia, although, in this case, it is necessary to take account of the great disturbance caused by the collapse of the Tsarist regime in 1917 and the ensuing civil war, and the famine which ravaged the Volga basin in 1921. In 1913 the total weight of goods carried by water amounted to 2,281,900,00o pouds (approx. 38,000,00o tons), of which corn accounted for 229,000,000 pouds. In 1920 the total figure had fallen to 665, 500,000 pouds. The corresponding figure for corn is negligible. For 1925 the total figure was, according to official statements, 1,405,200,000 pouds.
The question in relation to the improvement of navigable water ways was resumed after the war and, although many big schemes can hardly be expected to materialize, it is none the less true that a large number of far-reaching plans are already in course of being realized, or are ripe for execution.
Rhone-Rhine Navigation.—The navigable waterway which the canalization of the Rhone would establish from Marseilles through Lyons and Geneva (if the French and Swiss governments agreed about the regime for the Lake of Geneva), might be of first-class importance for traffic to Switzerland, and the eventual continua tion of this waterway through Switzerland by the canal known as Entreroches (a scheme warmly supported by the Swiss Assn. for Rhone-Rhine Navigation), would increase its importance. This scheme for a navigable waterway between the Rhone and the Rhine through Switzerland seems still immature.
Rhine Navigation.—The second large scheme prepared by the French Government is for the great Alsace canal between Hun ingue and Strasbourg. This canal, which will serve both for navi gation and the supply of water-power, is to follow a course nearly parallel to the Rhine over a distance of about 114 kilometres. The plan involves the erection of a weir across the Rhine bed. Further, eight power stations will be constructed on the canal and two locks placed at each station. The dimensions of this water way would allow barges of 1,200 tons, normal type on the Upper Rhine above Mannheim. The scheme for this canal required the approval of the Central Commission for Rhine Navigation. After giving its consent to the construction of the first reach of the canal in 1922, the commission in April 1925 approved the scheme for the seven other reaches subject to certain conditions.
Switzerland has prepared a scheme for the regulation of the Rhine between Strasbourg and Basel. This scheme has also been conditionally approved by the Central Rhine Commission, and the work may therefore shortly be put in hand (see RHINE).
Communication from the Rhine to Antwerp.---A clause in the Treaty of Versailles provides for the possible construction of a deep-draught canal from Antwerp to the Meuse and the Rhine, ending in the neighbourhood of Ruhrort. The early execution of this scheme is unlikely because of the considerable expenditure involved, and also owing to the fact that the consent of Holland is necessary. The right solution for the improvement of the communication with Antwerp seems to be an Antwerp-Moerdijk canal, as was provided for in the Dutch-Belgian Treaty, which was, however, rejected by the First Chamber of the Dutch Par liament. Fresh negotiations have been entered into by the parties concerned and will undoubtedly permit of a satisfactory solution. It seems indicated that the new communication between Antwerp and the Rhine should be navigable for the large Rhine barges, that is to say for vessels up to 3,00o tons.
Meuse Canalization.—In the Netherlands the most important scheme now being carried out is the canalization of the Meuse on Dutch territory, which further involves a junction canal between the Meuse and the Waal and the Juliana canal from Maasbracht southwards, the latter intended to link up the mining centre with the navigable waterways of the country. The canalized Meuse will be navigable for boats of 2,000 tons. Locks 26o metres long will be able to take a tug and two barges of 2,000 tons each. The Meuse-Waal canal will be navigable for boats of the same tonnage.
Completion of Rhine-Vistula System.—In Germany two large schemes are being carried out. The Mittelland canal, which will connect Hanover with the Elbe near Magdeburg, will establish an uninterrupted navigable waterway between the Rhine and the Vistula. This canal will form the last section of the waterway begun with the construction of the Dortmund-Ems canal between 1889 and 1899, followed by the Rhine-Herne canal, opened in 1914, and the Bevergern-Misburg canal constructed during the War. The last-mentioned canal, which is 172km. long, is without locks. The total length without locks, including certain parts of adjacent canals, is no less than 213 kilometres. The Mittelland canal will be navigable for boats of 1,00o tons. It will cross the Elbe by a bridge, the plans for which have been submitted for the approval of the International Elbe Commission.
Rhine-Main-Danube Connection.—The second important scheme in process of execution is the junction between the Rhine, the Main and the Danube. The idea of linking up the Rhine and the Danube is a very old one. Charlemagne conceived the idea of constructing a canal, traces of which can still be seen. The Lud wig canal, opened in 1846, was only navigable by small boats up to 120 tons and has never been much used. It is anticipated that the area tapped by the Rhine-Main-Danube navigable waterway will exceed that of any other European river and canal system. The scheme involves the canalization of the Main, the construc tion of lateral canals and of a junction canal between the Main and the Danube, joining up with the latter near Kelheim. It also necessitates the regulation of the Danube between Regensburg and Hofkirchen, and between Passau and the frontier and in addition its canalization over the stretch between Hofkirchen and Passau, that is to say, in the Bavarian Kachlet. The waterway will be navigable for canal barges of 1,200 tons and for Rhine barges up to 1,50o tons. The scheme also provides for the utiliza tion of hydraulic power; in fact, it is the production of electric power that has made the scheme practicable.
Other German Schemes.—Among the other plans for the con struction of canals in Germany, such as the Hansa canal, the canal from the Weser to the Main, the Kuesten-Kanal and the junction canal between Neckar and Danube, only the last deserves serious consideration at present. The canalization of the Neckar might be of considerable value for the development of navigation and for the port of Mannheim. At one time it seemed that, mainly for political reasons, opinion in Germany was in favour of construct ing the Weser-Main canal (the Weser being the only important river which has escaped internationalization) in order to direct part of the traffic from the Danube to Bremen, after the con struction of the Main-Danube canal. The Weser could also carry some of the traffic normally carried by the Rhine and the Elbe. But the changed political situation makes it improbable that this scheme will be put into effect at any early date.
Italian W aterways.—In Italy a canal has been constructed from the Po to Brondolo on the Lagoon of Venice. A canal is also in course of construction from Milan to the confluence of the Adda and the Po, whereby Milan will be linked by waterway to Venice.
Czechoslovakian Waterways.—In Czechoslovakia, besides canal ization work on the Elbe and the Moldau and the regulation of the Danube, the Government has carefully considered two canal schemes, an Elbe-Danube canal and an Elbe-Oder canal navigable for vessels of 1,200 tons. The length of the Elbe-Danube canal would be about 30o kilometres. Its course would follow as far as possible the line of the most important towns. Financial considera tions are retarding the execution of these schemes.
Polish Waterways.—At the request of the Polish Government the League of Nations Committee for Communications and Tran sit appointed three engineers (Case, United States, Nijhoff, Netherlands, Watier, France), to study the plan for a coal canal between the mining district of Upper Silesia and the mouth of the Vistula, and also the general problem of the development of the Polish navigable waterways considered as a whole, in particular the best technical methods for regulating the Vistula and for the construction of the East to West canal. The Committee of Engineers did not recommend the immediate construction of a coal canal, but urged the complete improvement of the Vistula, including a lateral canal from the coal basin to the Cracow dis trict, prolonged by canalization of the river to the confluence of the San, and then, by regulation of the remainder of the river to its mouth. It was further recommended that work should be started on the Warta-Lake Goplo canal and on the great waterway Bug-Pripet. The entire East to West Branch will consist of the canalized Notec, the Bydgoszcz canal, the Brda, the Vistula up to Modlin, the Bug-Narev, the canalized Muchawiec, the improved Royal canal and the regulated Pripet. The latter would link up this waterway with the great navigable system of Russia through the Dnieper.
The Russian System.—The Russian rivers which are naturally navigable have suffered but little from the lack of upkeep in the course of the last Io years. The proposal to construct the Rostov canal to unite the Volga and the Don may be carried into effect, though there are great technical difficulties in the way of this scheme. Its completion would reduce the cost of transport of oil from Baku, fish from Astrakhan, corn from the valleys of the Volga and the Kama, coal from the Donetz and merchandise from Persia. The importance of the proposed canal is obvious, as the immense system of the Volga, which is navigable for more than i6,000km., will thus be linked up with the Black sea, and the Baltic, Black and Caspian seas will be connected by navigable waterways. There is already a service between Leningrad via the Mariinsky system and the Volga to Astrakhan and thence to the Persian port of Enzeli. The immense territory of Russia may become of capital importance in the future from the point of view of inland waterway communications. The system of waterways is more than 20o,000km. in length, of which at present some 40,00o are navigable. The Asiatic Russian system from the Ob Yenesei mouths to Central Asia and Lake Baikal lies outside the scope of this article.