Rudolf Halter was considered one of the leading Austrian hydraulic engineers in his time. He graduated from the Technical University of Vienna and was initially an expert in the routing of railroad lines.
From 1887 to 1895, he worked for the province of Lower Austria and turned to hydraulic engineering. In 1896, he moved to the Ministry of the Interior, where he was responsible for the regulation of the Morava River. From 1897 he became head of department in the Lower Austrian Danube Regulation Commission. During the great Danube flood of 1897, he was entrusted with securing the Hubertus Dam section Bisamberg-Floridsdorf, which he was able to save from dam failure.
In the Danube Regulation Commission, he devoted himself to the low-water regulation of the Vienna section of the Danube. The relocation of the navigation channel from the left to the right bank can be traced back to Halter. From 1899 to 1902, the protection and winter harbor in Freudenau was built under his direction, followed by the Kuchelau harbor and all important Danube protection structures of that time in Lower Austria.