The National Agency for Land Improvements (ANIF) in Romania has tendered a RON 1 billion contract for the design and execution of works on a 23-km section of the Siret-Bărăgan Irrigation Main Canal. 

This section is located on the territory of Vrancea county, and the works contracted by ANIF include three hydrotechnical nodes, Zăbrăuți, Șușita, Putna, as well as 14 undercrossings of rivers.

The contract spans 31 months, with actual design and execution of works. Financing is from the state budget, according to Economedia.ro.

The Siret - Bărăgan Canal is a project started in 1986, during the last years of the communist regime, on the Siret River, between the Călimăneşti Dam and the Dridu Lake, which was to bring the waters from the Siret River to the dry fields of southeastern Romania (Bărăgan). 

The canal was to have a length of 198 kilometres. Its construction was supposed to bring economic benefits on three levels: providing water for irrigation in Bărăgan, reducing the risk of flooding in the Siretului meadow, and using it as a route for the naval transport of goods. In addition, farmers in the area would have benefited from reduced energy costs, which are now needed to bring water from the Danube.

iulian@romania-insider.com

(Photo source: Svlase/Dreamstime.com)