Sluice flooding continues in Spit shipping channel

In the navigation channel through the Vistula Spit, flooding of the sluice has begun. The filling is taking place from the side of Gdansk Bay. Then, tests will begin – the Maritime Office in Gdynia has announced.

– Flooding of the sluice is in progress, the operation started yesterday, we plan to finish it tomorrow. The lock is being filled from the side of the Gdansk Bay, through the openings burnt in the cofferdam. The next steps will be to test each of the steel gates in the water environment. First the tests from the southern and northern engine room will take place,” said director of the Maritime Office in Gdynia Wiesław Piotrzkowski.

He explains that these will be tests in semi-automatic mode, and then in automatic mode. In the next stage, the temporary steel cofferdam on the northern and southern parts will be removed.

The process will end with tests of the entire crossing from the Superior Control System located at the Nowy Świat Harbour Master’s Office, which includes control of bridges, lock gates, signalling and variable message signs, Piotrzkowski reported.

In mid-May, Deputy Infrastructure Minister Marek Gróbarczyk informed, that works on the construction of the navigation channel through the Vistula Spit are going according to plan and there is no threat to their completion. He reminded the opening of the canal through the Spit was planned for 17 September.

The new waterway connecting the Vistula Lagoon with the Gulf of Gdansk is to strengthen Poland’s sovereignty and make it independent of decisions made by the Russian side. Polish vessels had to obtain permission from Russia each time they sailed through the Pilawa Strait. Once the construction of the canal is completed, they will no longer have to do so. Thanks to the canal, the route of vessels sailing from the Gdansk Bay to the Vistula Lagoon will also be shortened. The investment will strengthen the planned port in Elbląg and the ports on the Vistula Lagoon.

video: 24plreporter
source: PortalMorski.pl