The shift of freight from road to water is one of the European strategies to reduce the negative impacts of the increasing transport volume. The River Rhine and other major rivers like the Danube, or the network of deep water canals with good infrastructure can be considered as the backbone of the European inland water-way transport system. But these inland waterways presently serve only parts of West, Central and South-East Europe. Far more inland waterways do exist in other countries and regions, but due to their insufficient either permanent or seasonal low water depth and the limited size of the admitted vessels, only a comparatively low volume of transport can be achieved. The upgrading of these waterways to a higher capacity is planned at long term but often restricted by technical, environmental and / or for budgetary reasons.