Environmental agency calls for pre-trial investigation into illegal riverbed deepening during Kaunas bridge construction

The Environmental Protection Agency (AAD) has requested that Kaunas District Police launch a pre-trial investigation into suspected illegal deepening of the Neris riverbed during the construction of a pedestrian bridge in Kaunas, LRT.lt reports.

Concerns were first raised last August when private citizens reported potential environmental violations during the bridge’s construction. An agency inspection confirmed that work was carried out in a Natura 2000 protected area, possibly damaging legally safeguarded natural features.

Investigators found that the construction company exceeded the approved scope of work, performing unauthorised riverbed deepening. An expert assessment by Vilnius University’s Faculty of Chemistry and Geosciences concluded that the work “undoubtedly altered the river’s hydrodynamic flow, bed relief, and shoreline” in the surveyed section.

The agency estimates environmental damage at €42,400, citing harm to the river’s natural channel. The Neris is part of Europe’s natural heritage and protected under the Natura 2000 network, with its rapids considered a key habitat.

Last summer, local residents and environmentalists criticised the use of heavy machinery in the river and the dumping of gravel, warning of irreversible erosion. “These works are being done behind our backs—digging, using land-based equipment in the water, altering the riverbed and hydromorphology completely,” Martynas Počebutas, head of the association Lithuanian Fish, told LRT Television.

The 300-metre pedestrian and cycling bridge, 6.5 metres wide, is being built under a contract with Kaunas City Municipality, which previously stated all work complied with project specifications.