As a consequence of eleven critical points on the Calarasi – Braila section of the Romanian stretch of the Danube, vessels must take a bypass route via the Bala-Borcea branch, which extends the navigation distance to around 110 km, for periods of around 140–160 days/ year. The main objective of the project is to ensure navigation conditions on the main course of the Danube all year round.According to the recommendations of the Danube Commission, minimum 2.5 m fairway depth must be ensured on this sector, whereas the width of the navigable fairway should be in the range of 150 to 180 m. Due to the regressing evolution of the main Danube branch in the low water seasons, eleven critical points for navigation have appeared: the sand bar in Caragheorghe (rkm 345 – 342), Leb?da (rkm 341 – 336), Mîrleanu (rkm 329 – 325), Insula Fermecatu (rkm 323 – 318), Cochirleni (rkm 310 – 307), Insula Fasolele (rkm 292), Alv?ne?ti (rkm 276), Ostrovul Lupu (rkm 196) and others. As a consequence of these critical points on the C?l?ra?i – Br?ila section of the Danube, vessels must take a bypass route via the Bala–Borcea branch, which extends the navigation distance to around 110 km, for periods of around 140 – 160 days/ year.This is a situation caused by the involution of the main Danube riverbed and the overdevelopment of the Bala and Borcea branches upstream. Therefore, discharge has increased on the Bala branch to almost 80% of the Danube's discharge. The continuous decrease in the discharge of the Danube in Cernavod? resulted in the formation and development of the above mentioned bottlenecks and the appearance of other risks, which resulted in the discontinued use of the Cernavod? Nuclear Plant in 2003. Achievements: The project is in delay with 19 months. The works were stopped in January 2009 due to intervention of NGOs and the European Commission's DG Environment . Based on this, DG Regional Policy recommended to implement a complex programme for monitoring the impact of the works on biotic and abiotic factors in all the critical points. Consequently the Romanian Ministry of Transport organised a tendering procedure for preparation of this Monitoring Programme. Due to the contribution of and recommendations received from EC-DG Environment, ICPDR and IAD experts, the Monitoring Programme has been substantially improved and is now implemented by the River Administration of the Lower Danube - Galati within the project Monitoring of Environmental Impact of the Works for Improvement of the Navigation Conditions on the Danube between Calarasi –Braila, km 375 – km 175.The contractor had been notified to resume the works beginning with 22 August 2011. The contractor is now in the progress to remobilize the equipment and its team and has started to make surveys on site.Based on the EC recommendation, the project will be transferred from ISPA funding to SOP Transport funding.