In 1827, faced with a Weser that was silting up, Hanseatic Bremen bought the land for Bremerhaven from Hanover's king to maintain a link to the sea.
One of the most successful diversions, near the river's mouth, is now in danger of being shut down because the shipping industry has complained that it is silting up a useful anchorage.
It never stops and must run around the clock to prevent the river mouth from silting up.
For Labour, the silting up of the opinion polls has allowed the party to run a low-risk campaign, ditching the "masochism strategy" of a few months ago, which involved allowing Tony Blair to take a few cathartic maulings from live television audiences.
The soil in many places has become less naturally productive and rivers are running dry and silting up.
The ancient port of Miletus, which lay near its mouth, has long been landlocked and abandoned because of silting.
Thaton, the former capital of the Mon kingdom, was once a significant port but has lost its position because of silting.
Originally an extension of the Arabian Sea, the Rann of Kachchh has been closed off by centuries of silting.
The trade of Königsberg was much hindered by the constant shifting and silting up of the channels leading to its harbour, and the First Northern War and the Second Northern War did the city immense damage, but before the end of the 17th century it had almost recovered.
Lake Chapala, Mexico's largest freshwater lake, lies largely within Jalisco; however, it is silting up and shrinking as its source, the Lerma River, is diverted for crop irrigation and for drinking water in Mexico City.
Its mouth, near the port of Yingkou, is constantly silting up, and it is navigable for smaller craft as far upstream as the confluence of the Eastern and Western Liao rivers.
