A team made up of subsidiaries of Austrian contractor Strabag has been awarded a €532m contract to replace a lock on a major canal in Germany.

Ed Züblin, Züblin Spezialtiefbau and Bauer Spezialtiefbau will begin work on installing the lock in the Rhine-Danube canal next month and are due to complete it in spring 2032.

Located south of the city of Erlangen, the existing Kriegenbrunn lock was built in 1972, and was so dilapidated that it was deemed easier to replace than to repair.

To prevent disruption to canal traffic, the new lock will be built near the existing one, which will be dismantled when the new one is operational.

Strabag said it would be a technical challenge to dig a 30m-deep, 200m-long pit without affecting the existing canal.

The project aims to increase the flow of shipping on the canal, which connects the North and the Black seas. The work includes the excavation of three reservoirs to the east of the existing lock and the installation of sheet-pile walls to strengthen the upstream and downstream canals.

In addition to the extensive ground and civil engineering services, the contract also includes steel hydraulics works for the lock’s mechanism.

The contract was awarded by the Waterway Construction Office of Aschaffenburg.