The construction of storm gates on the Tuga river will protect Nowy Dwór Gdański and the areas between the city and the flood gates against floods caused by storm surges from the Vistula Lagoon. The scope of the investment includes, in addition to the construction of storm gates, the construction of a side overflow (transfer structure) to the Pryżnik canal and the reconstruction of this canal over a section of approx. 2.5 km in order to pass the excess water from the Tuga river during the closing of the gate. The investment is one of the elements of the project. The project is co-financed (85%) by the European Union and the Cohesion Fund under the Infrastructure and Environment Operational Program 2014-2020 (OPI & E). Its total value is 130 million PLN, of which 33 million PLN was allocated for the construction of the storm gate in Tuga. The contractor of the works is the company B&W Usługi Ogólnobudowlane from Pruszcz Gdański.
Another investment of Polish Waters in Pomerania is the dredging (removal of bottom sediments) of the Klucz-Ustowo ditch. This will provide better flood protection for the residents of Szczecin and surrounding areas, and at the same time will improve the flow of traffic for both units such as icebreakers and for barges and small boats business. – With the deepening ditch our units will be able to easily overcome the sections, which are now in some places too shallow. All inland navigation and other vessels operating in this part of the Oder will benefit from this, and it is a route that plays an important economic role in the cross-border cooperation between Poland and Germany
– says Marek Duklanowski, director of the Regional Water Management Authority in Szczecin.
Clearing the Klucz-Ustowo ditch track will also improve the flow of flood waters from Lake Dąbie, which is the main receiver of ice floe flowing from the upper sections of the Odra River. – Regardless of the place where the ice jam occurs, each icebreaking operation on the Odra, Warta and Noteć rivers must start on Dąbie lake, to which the ice floe from the entire river must be transported. The investment in the deepening of the trench is therefore a key element of the winter flood protection on the Odra River– adds director Marek Duklanowski. Polish Waters is very concerned that the dredging doesn’t disturb in any way the natural rhythm of life in Międzyodrze, therefore the task is to be carried out according to precise environmental conditions. This investment is one of the components of the nationwide POPDOW (Odra and Vistula River Basin Flood Protection Program) implemented by Polish Waters from the funds of the World Bank). The contractor for the works will be the Dredging Hegemann Industrie, which performed dredging for, among others, the Szczecin port and the Maritime Office. The contract value is less than 7 million PLN. Dredging works should be completed in 2021.
One of the investments carried out under the aforementioned POPDOW project is the expansion and construction of new flood embankments around Słubice in the Lubuskie Voivodeship, which aims to increase the protection and safety of the city’s inhabitants against a flood wave. In addition to the modernization of the existing embankments, a new circular embankment will also be built, which will strengthen the protection of the areas located in the urban part of Słubice. The channels of the Racza Struga and Czarny Kanał channels will also be rebuilt. These activities will not cut off wetlands and oxbow lakes from the flood, because the embankment will be built outside the areas regularly flooded with the waters of the Odra River and the valuable complex of riparian forests. The contractor will be Budimex SA, and over 125 million PLN has been allocated for the investment. Its completion is planned for the fourth quarter of 2022.
The projects of flood protection in the Odra and Vistula basin (POPDOW) and flood protection of the Odra basin (ORFPP) developed by Polish Waters assume investments in a comprehensive flood protection system on the Odra and Vistula rivers. The purpose of these investments is to mitigate the flood wave and reduce the flood risk of the areas that have the most risk of flooding in the basins of both rivers. It has been estimated that the areas covered by the investments included in both projects are inhabited by over 15 million people – better flood protection will increase their sense of security.