The reclamation of the Pinsk marshes, as envisaged in interwar Poland, was one of the most ambitious national investment projects of the era. The plan was closely linked with the concept of a trans-European waterway running through Polesie, that was also being contem¬plated around that time. The latter project was embedded in a larger discussion about Poland’s inland navigation. Eventually, neither of these projects were finalized or even begun, before the second world war broke out. This paper analyses the discourse that took place on both issues, with a particular focus on their inevitable intersection. While describing the political background of this discourse, the article reconsiders the role of the engineers as the principal, sometimes overlooked, players in these processes. This research was supported by the National Science Centre, Poland, Grant No. 2015/19/B/HS3/03553
