📋 Tender Overview
Funded under
Connecting Europe Facility (CEF)
The Seine-Escaut global project is one of the major transport infrastructure projects in the European Union. It aims to bring together a network of 1,100 km of large-gauge inland waterways between the Seine basin and the Scheldt (Escaut) and Maas basins in Belgium, in a bid to upgrade access for modern river convoys from 2,000 tons to more than 4,000 tons and to drive forward the modal shift in freight transport from the road towards the waterways. The project, SEINE-ESCAUT 2.2, pursues activities undertaken since 2005 by the partners, in particular within the CEF1 Action SEINE-ESCAUT 2020 (CEF Action 2014-EU-TM-0373-M) and the CEF2 Project SEINE-ESCAUT 2.1 (CEF Action 21-EU-TG-SEINE-ESCAUT 2.1) and as described in the Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2019/1118. In particular, the Project includes a critical phase of the construction of a new river infrastructure, the Seine-Nord Europe Canal, which will connect the Seine basin to the Scheldt basin as well as to other major European basins (Meuse, Rhine). This is the biggest inland waterway infrastructure project in Europe. It is estimated, a few years after its commissioning, that the Canal Seine-Nord Europe will make it possible to transport ca. 17 million tons of goods per year and reduce road traffic by 1 million heavy goods vehicles per year in France and even by 2.3 million at the Seine-Escaut network level. The result is a carbon footprint that shows, over 40 years, a saving of more than 50 million tons of CO2. A way to meet the climate and energy challenges of the 21st century. Subsequent to the future opening of the Canal Seine-Nord Europe and the significant upgrades of the inland waterway network across the border in France and Belgium, the number and size of the vessels on the Seine-Escaut large-gauge network are expected to grow considerably. Today however, existing infrastructure and equipment limit the capacity of the network and present a real risk to the continuity of navigation. As a matter of fact, every tonne of freight transferred from road to water enables greenhouse gas emissions to be reduced by 4 to 5 times, as well as energy consumption per tonne transported to be reduced by 4 times. Inland waterways are thus a major lever in the fight against climate change and for energy sobriety. Therefore, on the 1,100 km of the large-gauge network, the inland waterways and their infrastructure need to be either modernised to ensure the reliability and the safety of the navigation or upgraded to accommodate larger vessels. Moreover, to improve the reliability, fluidity, service offer and safety of navigation, systems of remote control will be deployed on key infrastructures. Seine-Escaut tackles some major European, as well as regional and local, challenges: it encourages low-carbon transport to suit future economic and commercial needs and boosts territorial continuity for an area with more than 40 million inhabitants. The projec
