diff --git a/.github/workflows/deploy-int.yaml b/.github/workflows/deploy-int.yaml
index 3588988..46c3586 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/deploy-int.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/deploy-int.yaml
@@ -36,6 +36,7 @@ jobs:
           SSL_KEY=${{ vars.SSL_KEY }}
           CONCURRENCY=${{ vars.CONCURRENCY }}
           MAX_CACHE_SIZE=${{ vars.MAX_CACHE_SIZE }}
+          USE_ELEVATION=${{ vars.USE_ELEVATION }}
           PBF_LOCAL_PATH=${{ vars.PBF_LOCAL_PATH }}
           PBF_URL=${{ vars.PBF_URL }}
           HTTP_PROXY=${{ vars.HTTP_PROXY }}
diff --git a/.github/workflows/deploy-local.yml b/.github/workflows/deploy-local.yml
index 9ac212f..448c12b 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/deploy-local.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/deploy-local.yml
@@ -34,6 +34,7 @@ jobs:
           SSL_KEY=${{ vars.SSL_KEY }}
           CONCURRENCY=${{ vars.CONCURRENCY }}
           MAX_CACHE_SIZE=${{ vars.MAX_CACHE_SIZE }}
+          USE_ELEVATION=${{ vars.USE_ELEVATION }}
           PBF_LOCAL_PATH=${{ vars.PBF_LOCAL_PATH }}
           PBF_URL=${{ vars.PBF_URL }}
           HTTP_PROXY=${{ vars.HTTP_PROXY }}
diff --git a/.github/workflows/deploy-prod.yml b/.github/workflows/deploy-prod.yml
index eb2eedd..fe5d567 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/deploy-prod.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/deploy-prod.yml
@@ -32,6 +32,7 @@ jobs:
           SSL_KEY=${{ vars.SSL_KEY }}
           CONCURRENCY=${{ vars.CONCURRENCY }}
           MAX_CACHE_SIZE=${{ vars.MAX_CACHE_SIZE }}
+          USE_ELEVATION=${{ vars.USE_ELEVATION }}
           PBF_LOCAL_PATH=${{ vars.PBF_LOCAL_PATH }}
           PBF_URL=${{ vars.PBF_URL }}
           HTTP_PROXY=${{ vars.HTTP_PROXY }}
diff --git a/conf/valhalla.conf b/conf/valhalla.conf
index aadcfd0..35caf4d 100644
--- a/conf/valhalla.conf
+++ b/conf/valhalla.conf
@@ -16,4 +16,4 @@ stdout_logfile=/app/tmp_data/logs/builder.log
 stdout_logfile_maxbytes=10MB
 # stdout_logfile=/proc/1/fd/1
 # stdout_logfile_maxbytes=0
-environment=NO_PROXY="%(ENV_NO_PROXY)s",PBF_LOCAL_PATH="%(ENV_PBF_LOCAL_PATH)s",PBF_URL="%(ENV_PBF_URL)s",HTTPS_PROXY="%(ENV_HTTPS_PROXY)s",HTTP_PROXY="%(ENV_HTTP_PROXY)s",MAX_CACHE_SIZE="%(ENV_MAX_CACHE_SIZE)s",CONCURRENCY="%(ENV_CONCURRENCY)s",DATA_DIR="/app/data",TMP_DATA_DIR="/app/tmp_data"
+environment=NO_PROXY="%(ENV_NO_PROXY)s",USE_ELEVATION="%(ENV_USE_ELEVATION)s",PBF_LOCAL_PATH="%(ENV_PBF_LOCAL_PATH)s",PBF_URL="%(ENV_PBF_URL)s",HTTPS_PROXY="%(ENV_HTTPS_PROXY)s",HTTP_PROXY="%(ENV_HTTP_PROXY)s",MAX_CACHE_SIZE="%(ENV_MAX_CACHE_SIZE)s",CONCURRENCY="%(ENV_CONCURRENCY)s",DATA_DIR="/app/data",TMP_DATA_DIR="/app/tmp_data"
diff --git a/scripts/docker-entrypoint.sh b/scripts/docker-entrypoint.sh
index 80a15e7..73dc63d 100755
--- a/scripts/docker-entrypoint.sh
+++ b/scripts/docker-entrypoint.sh
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@ elif [ "${cmd}" == 'app' ]; then
   CONF_FILE="/etc/supervisor/conf.d/valhalla.conf"
   sed -i \
     -e "s|%(ENV_MAX_CACHE_SIZE)s|${MAX_CACHE_SIZE}|g" \
+    -e "s|%(ENV_USE_ELEVATION)s|${USE_ELEVATION}|g" \
     -e "s|%(ENV_PBF_LOCAL_PATH)s|${PBF_LOCAL_PATH}|g" \
     -e "s|%(ENV_PBF_URL)s|${PBF_URL}|g" \
     -e "s|%(ENV_CONCURRENCY)s|${CONCURRENCY}|g" \
diff --git a/scripts/run_valhalla.sh b/scripts/run_valhalla.sh
index 0c26e33..232959c 100755
--- a/scripts/run_valhalla.sh
+++ b/scripts/run_valhalla.sh
@@ -29,6 +29,7 @@ log_message "INFO: CONCURRENCY set to $CONCURRENCY"
 log_message "INFO: MAX_CACHE_SIZE set to $MAX_CACHE_SIZE"
 log_message "INFO: PBF_LOCAL_PATH set to $PBF_LOCAL_PATH"
 log_message "INFO: PBF_URL set to $PBF_URL"
+log_message "INFO: USE_ELEVATION set to $USE_ELEVATION"
 
 # watch the .lock file every 10 secs
 wait_for_lock() {
@@ -145,15 +146,19 @@ while true; do
   
   log_message "INFO: Building initial graph with $PBF..."
   valhalla_build_tiles -c "${valhalla_config}" -s initialize -e build "$PBF" || exit 1
-
-  log_message "INFO: Downloading elevation to $ELEVATION_DIR..."
-  valhalla_build_elevation --from-tiles --decompress -c ${valhalla_config} -v || exit 1
-  # debugging with andorra only:
-  # valhalla_build_elevation --decompress -c ${valhalla_config} -v -b 1,42,2,43 || exit 1
-
-  log_message "INFO: Enhancing initial tiles with elevation..."
-  valhalla_build_tiles -c "${valhalla_config}" -s enhance -e cleanup "$PBF" || exit 1
-
+  
+  if [ "$USE_ELEVATION" = "true" ]; then
+    log_message "INFO: Downloading elevation to $ELEVATION_DIR..."
+    valhalla_build_elevation --from-tiles --decompress -c ${valhalla_config} -v || exit 1
+    # debugging with andorra only:
+    # valhalla_build_elevation --decompress -c ${valhalla_config} -v -b 1,42,2,43 || exit 1
+
+    log_message "INFO: Enhancing initial tiles with elevation..."
+    valhalla_build_tiles -c "${valhalla_config}" -s enhance -e cleanup "$PBF" || exit 1
+  else
+    log_message "INFO: Skipping elevation enhancement."
+  fi
+  
   # reset config so the service won't load the graph
   reset_config