Vistula Spit navigation channel opens

The official opening of the Vistula Spit shipping channel in Poland took place earlier this week.

The geopolitically important project significantly reduces the distance between the Port of Elblag and the Baltic Sea, making the port more accessible to maritime traffic.

The Maritime Office of Gdynia awarded the contract for the construction to the BESIX-NDI joint venture back in 2019.

“We are incredibly happy to have delivered the new Vistula Spit navigation channel, which will generate important economic benefits for Poland. Delivering this strategic project on schedule would not have been possible without the open collaboration with our partner NDI,” said Tomasz Szewczak, Project Manager at BESIX.

The project included the construction of a navigation channel through the peninsula, two breakwaters of respectively 1,014 m and 568 m long, two rotating steel bridges with lock infrastructure and sluice gates, buildings and a new road system.

On top of that, a 180 ha artificial island was created with the excavated earth, which will now serve as a protected shelter for birds.

The navigation channel is 1.3 kilometres long and has a varying width of 25 to 120 metres.

Vessels with a draught of up to 4.5 metres, a length up to 100 metres and a width of up to 20 metres are now able to pass, as well as barges of up to 180 metres.

To reinforce the breakwaters, the innovative technology of XblocPlus elements was implemented, with the specially designed Transition XblocPlus to assemble them.

Making their debut in Poland, these prefabricated innovative blocks can be recognised by their unique symmetrical shape.

In combination with the hole in the middle of each block, the shape enables a quick, easy and safe installation from land.

Also, less material is needed to make them and 50 % fewer blocks are required in total, as they interlock on all sides.

Apart from facilitating a safe installation, the hole in the middle also has another function: it reduces water pressure and increases stability, which makes the whole structure more resistant to climate change.

“These elements are the perfect sustainable solution. Thanks to their special surface, marine life can thrive on the blocks, which makes them the ideal habitat for the fauna and flora of the area,” BESIX said.

In total, nearly 10,000 XblocPlus elements were used to reinforce the breakwaters, equaling 21,400 m³.

The Vistula Spit peninsula is a sandy embankment that stretches from Gdańsk, Poland, to Kaliningrad, Russia.

In the past, vessels had no other option to reach the port of Elblag than by crossing Russian waters. The new channel now enables them to access the lagoon straight from the Baltic Sea, making the route from the Gulf of Gdańsk to the Port of Elblag drastically shorter.

As a result, the port’s activities are boosted, as well as local employment and the economy.