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24-837: It was first proposed in 1929 by Herman Sörgel as part of his Atlantropa project, as a way to irrigate the Sahara. In the 1960s, Lake Chad began to shrink, and the idea was revived as a solution to that problem. The members of the Lake Chad Basin International Commission are Chad , the Central African Republic, Nigeria , Cameroon and Niger . Concerned by shrinkage of the lake's area from 20,000 square kilometres (7,700 sq mi) in 1972 to 2,000 square kilometres (770 sq mi) in 2002, they met in January 2002 to discuss

48-479: A UNESCO World Heritage Site , the oldest known waterway system in the world, is considered to be one of the world's largest and most extensive project of engineering . The European Conference of Ministers of Transport established in 1953 a classification of waterways that was later expanded to take into account the development of push-towing. Europe is a continent with a great variety of waterway characteristics, which makes this classification valuable to appreciate

72-567: A waterway to be navigable , it must meet several criteria: Vessels using waterways vary from small animal -drawn barges to immense ocean tankers and ocean liners , such as cruise ships . In order to increase the importance of inland waterway transport, the European Commission presented a 35-point action plan in June 2021. The main goals are to increase the amount of goods moved through Europe's rivers and canals and to speed up

96-652: Is the function of ship canals . Dredged channels in the sea are not usually described as waterways. There is an exception to this initial distinction, essentially for legal purposes, see under international waters . Where seaports are located inland, they are approached through a waterway that could be termed "inland" but in practice is generally referred to as a "maritime waterway" (examples Seine Maritime, Loire Maritime , Seeschiffahrtsstraße Elbe). The term "inland waterway" refers to navigable rivers and canals designed to be used by inland waterway craft only, implicitly of much smaller dimensions than seagoing ships. In order for

120-837: The Chari River ). This path is the same one used by the CIMA study (water flow 100 m/s, the same as the Moscow Canal ), only sizing the channel and adapting the river and locks to support ships. This waterway could link Lake Chad with the Congo River inland navigation system and the waterway transport in the Democratic Republic of the Congo . The navigable waterway system in Congo can be upgraded from Kinshasa to Matadi sea port, already planned as an option in

144-838: The Inga dams project. As well as it is "feasible" from Lake Mweru ( Pweto city) through Luvua River to Ankoro (requiring dams and a Boat lift in Boyoma Falls , like the Three Gorges dam ship lift ), or the waterway into the Lake Tanganyika in Kalemie through the Lukuga River up to Kabalo ( Zanza village ), now linked by railway. A 366 km (227 mi) channel from the Ubangi to Chari would travel double

168-649: The Mediterranean Sea would enable making use of the difference between the Mediterranean and the Atlantic sea levels to generate hydro-electric power . Sörgel's idea to lower sea levels would increase the dry land areas around the Mediterranean and provide overland access to Africa. Damming the Congo River would have refilled the basin surrounding Lake Chad , providing fresh water to irrigate

192-588: The Sahara and shipping access to the African interior. Besides creating new bodies of land, the huge amounts of hydro-electric energy that would have been generated could have accounted for 50% of Europe's energy needs at the time. While Sörgel was developing the idea, he never considered seriously how other countries would react or change. For example, the Levant would have increased in area by 50%. Sörgel died at

216-578: The Sui dynasty ) and ten times shorter than the entire 3,770 km (2,340 mi) Saint Lawrence Seaway and Great Lakes Waterway (waterway from Duluth, Minnesota , to the Atlantic Ocean). Herman S%C3%B6rgel Herman Sörgel (2 April 1885 – 25 December 1952) was a German architect from Bavaria. He was known for popularizing the Atlantropa project, a massive construction project which

240-551: The Ubangi River , the biggest tributary of the Congo. This requires pumping the water some 180 m uphill, so it requires a power source, either hydroelectric or solar. The CIMA study considered a version using a dam on the Ubangi to generate 360 MW of power, 250 MW of which would be used to pump water. It was estimated to deliver 91 m/s of water to the Chari at a cost of $ 10 billion. A variant of this idea would pump water from

264-677: The 2021 Italian budget law included a financing of 1.5 million Euro for the feasibility study. On 13 November 2020, Former Italian Prime Minister, former EU Commission chief and former UN Special Envoy for the Sahel Romano Prodi stated that the populations around Lake Chad could not wait any longer and called for the EU, the UNO, the Organization for African Unity and China to join hands to finance and build Transaqua. A large merit for

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288-498: The Ubangi using solar power instead of hydroelectric power, to avoid the expense and disruption of a dam. The CIMA feasibility study also considered diverting water from a dam on the Kotto River , a tributary of the Ubangi, near Bria . This is high enough to move water to the Chari by gravity, with no pumping needed. It was estimated to deliver 108 m/s at a cost of $ 4.5 billion. The most ambitious proposal, named Transaqua,

312-564: The age of 67 soon after having been struck by a car while on his bicycle en route to a lecture at a German university in Munich . The accident happened on a road "as straight as a die" and the driver of the car was never found. This article about a German architect is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Waterway A waterway is any navigable body of water . Broad distinctions are useful to avoid ambiguity, and disambiguation will be of varying importance depending on

336-503: The canal would replenish the lake. The total water delivered would be more than 1500 m/s, which is 5-8% of the Congo's average flow, and more than the current total inflow to Lake Chad. But the cost would be more than $ 50 billion. This plan was initially considered unlikely to materialize as late as 2005. It was rejected in favor of a smaller water-transfer scheme from the Ubangi. The Lake Chad Basin Commission, however, judged that

360-515: The distance of the 171 km (106 mi) Rhine–Main–Danube Canal , three times the 128 km (80 mi) Moscow Canal or the 101 km (63 mi) Volga–Don Canal , or about the same length as the 368 km (229 mi) Volga–Baltic Waterway (that forms part of the Unified Deep Water System of European Russia ). It would be five times shorter than China's 1,776 km (1,104 mi) Grand Canal (built during

384-463: The largest proposals would divert less than 8% of the Congo's water, while the remaining 92-95% would not only reach Inga, but would produce electricity twice, first at the new dams and eventually at Inga. In 2011, the Canadian firm CIMA, under contract from Lake Chad Basin Commission , produced a feasibility study of several versions of the project. There are several proposals to divert water from

408-418: The nuance of the equivalent word in other ways. A first distinction is necessary between maritime shipping routes and waterways used by inland water craft. Maritime shipping routes cross oceans and seas, and some lakes, where navigability is assumed, and no engineering is required, except to provide the draft for deep-sea shipping to approach seaports ( channels ), or to provide a short cut across an isthmus; this

432-831: The project, which involved pumping water upwards from the Ubangi River, was not sufficient to replenish Lake Chad, and adopted Transaqua as the "only feasible" project at the International Conference on Lake Chad, on 26–28 Feb. 2018. Following the ICLC, representatives of the LCBC and the Italian government signed a MoU for initial funding for the Transaqua feasibility study on 16 October 2018. On 16 December 2019, an amendment introduced by Italian Sen. Tony Iwobi to

456-842: The project. Both the ADB and the Islamic Development Bank expressed interest in the project. However, the member states of the Congo-Ubangi-Sangha Basin International Commission ( Congo-Kinshasa , Congo-Brazzaville and the Central African Republic ) expressed concern that the project would reduce the energy potential of the Inga hydroelectric dam , would affect navigation on the Ubangi and Congo rivers and would reduce fish catches on these rivers. However, even

480-700: The success of Transaqua has been attributed to activists from the LaRouche movement. In addition to moving water, this proposal would create an inland waterway from the Ubangi River to the Chari River ), around 366 km channel, from the Gigi River (close to Djoukou – Galabadja in Kémo ), through Sibut , Bouca and then to Batangafo (over the Boubou River and into the Ouham River and then

504-587: The switch to zero-emission barges by 2050. This is in accordance with the Sustainable and Smart Mobility Strategy and the European Green Deal , which set the target of boosting inland canal and short-sea shipping by 25% by 2030 and by 50% by 2050. Waterways have been an important part of human activity since prehistoric times and navigability has allowed watercraft and canals to pass through every body of water . The Grand Canal (China) ,

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528-631: Was born in Regensburg , Bavaria, Germany, in 1885 to Bavarian parents. From 1904 to 1908 Sörgel studied architecture at The Technical University in Munich . Some of his publications included: Sörgel was the originator of the idea of Atlantropa —a utopian project which would include damming the Strait of Gibraltar , the Dardanelles, and the Congo River . The damming, and thus lowering, of

552-570: Was conceived initially as a solution to Europe's economic and political problems during the early 20th century. Atlantropa included proposals for dams to be built across the Strait of Gibraltar , the Dardanelles , and between Sicily and Tunisia . The dams would provide hydroelectric power and would be managed by a newly formed independent body with the authority to discontinue energy to any country which threatened peace. Sörgel actively promoted his ideas until his death in 1952. Herman Sörgel

576-491: Was proposed by a team of engineers of the firm Bonifica. led by Dr. Marcello Vichi, It would dam not only the Kotto but also the other right tributaries to the south, including the much larger Mbomou , Uele and Aruwimi . The water would be carried north by a 2400 km navigable canal along a contour line, which would generate hydro-electricity at several points along its length. These would power new industrial townships, while

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