Rehabilitation of the embankment Danube – Drava in Kopačevo

The Baranja flood defense system is based on the Drava, Danube, and Drava-Danube embankments (over 130 km of embankments) and a series of drainage canals that are a systemic component of the system. For the Baranja area, the construction of the system and good condition have no alternative in terms of flood protection.

Baranja is an area that belongs to the wider lowland area of the natural-geographical macromorphological unit of the Pannonian lowland, as part of the geographical area of Eastern Croatia.

The Baranja flood defense system is based on the Drava, Danube, and Drava-Danube embankments (over 130 km of embankments) and a series of drainage canals that are a systemic component of the system. For the Baranja area, the construction of the system and good condition have no alternative in terms of flood protection.

The aim of the rehabilitation works is to achieve a good state of the flood defense system at its weakest part, which, as was shown during the great waters of the Danube in 2006, is the final 4.5 km of the Drava-Danube embankment connecting the Main Danube and Main Drava embankments. .

Rehabilitation is carried out by strengthening the embankment with additional material on the defended side.

The works are performed in the following order:

  • Removing the surface layer of the embankment slope from 10 cm to 50 cm thick, which allows a visual inspection of the condition of the embankment covered with a humus layer.
  • Construction of a drainage system which ensures controlled leakage of leachate and enables monitoring of leached water quantities.
  • Reinforcement of the defended slope of the embankment by building ballast on the defended leg of the embankment, which alleviates the slope of the embankment and keeps the leakage lines in the body of the embankment. The current state of the defended slope requires intervention on its surface part due to the existence of a large number of moles, dens and other habitats of medium-sized animals, whose action significantly affects the stability of the embankment.
  • Restoration of the old surface layer

Rehabilitation works are performed by heavy construction machinery, and for the needs of remediation it is crucial to deliver significant quantities of suitable soil material approx. 110,000 m³ and install it in reinforcement in compliance with all technical standards.