The Mälar Project is overseen by the Swedish Maritime Administration. The goal is to increase accessibility and improve safety along the Södertälje Canal, as well as in the fairway to Lake Mälaren towards the harbours of Västerås and Köping.
NIRAS is involved in the Mälar Project as a design manager. This is an ongoing design process that will run parallel with the ongoing construction work.
Several parts will be designed at the same time
The design will be presented and distributed in 75 different packages with an ongoing design process as construction progresses.
NIRAS' role as design manager involves responsibility for drawings and adjustments from the client’s side, quality assurance as well as review of the contractor’s design.
NIRAS will ensure that all as-built documentation will be presented along with operations and maintenance plans that describe the objects and how these will be maintained.
Larger vessels, new activity spaces and an improved lock
In Södertälje, the lock will be broadened and extended, and lock gates will be replaced. The new lock will have a length of over 220 meters and 25 meters wide. The plans will ensure a good working environment for on-site personnel. This includes new maintenance houses, higher quality control systems, monitors and other technical equipment. In connection to the new lock an bascule bridge will be built.
The fairways to Lake Mälaren will be broadened and bends in the fairways will be straightened. They will also be deepened when necessary, in other words, dredged. This is to improve safety and increase accessibility for larger vessels in the Västerås and Köping harbours. Maritime traffic systems will be updated and erosion protection will be provided wherever necessary.
Along a 3.5 kilometer stretch of the Södertälje Canal that runs straight through the city of Södertälje, retaining walls will be constructed on both sides of the canal so that the canal can be broadened below the water surface. New and improved walking and cycling paths will be established along the canal, in addition to footbridges over to Kanalholmen. This will increase accessibility to the canal by creating meeting places and seating areas along the canal.
The project will benefit people, the environment and the economy, through increased capacity that can reduce the burden on road traffic and railways.
