Liechtenstein Inland Canal
History
Plans to build an inland canal in Liechtenstein date back to the 18th-century due to increased waterlogging of the river and the restricted flow of streams in the Alpine valley. In 1834 a canal was built between Schaan and Bendern in order to address this, but there was no permanent drainage into the connecting Rhine river. In 1894, the proposal for a inland canal extensively flowing through the country was first brought up for discussion in the Landtag of Liechtenstein. After six years of reports, the plan was first adopted by engineer Josef Vogt based on the design of Austrian engineer Philipp Krapf, but was not conducted due to huge costs.
Under the initiative of the government of Josef Hoop and politician Ferdinand Risch, the Landtag accepted the proposal for the building of the canal on 7 July 1930 and then it was approved following a referendum on the topic on 14 December of the same year. The canal was intended to provide construction jobs in addition to bringing additional arable land into Liechtenstein in order to increase farming and thus more employment to the country.