Belaja (Kuban)
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Belaya Белая, Шъхьагуащэ (Shchaguashche) |
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_Maykop_3.jpg) The Belaja in Maikop |
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| Data | ||
| Water code | RU : 06020001112108100004342 | |
| location | Republic of Adygea , Krasnodar Territory ( Russia ) | |
| River system | Kuban | |
| Drain over | Kuban → Black Sea | |
| source | Main ridge of the Greater Caucasus 43 ° 59 ′ 1 ″ N , 39 ° 55 ′ 4 ″ E |
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| Source height | approx. 2100 m | |
| muzzle | Krasnodar reservoir of the Kuban Coordinates: 45 ° 3 ′ 15 " N , 39 ° 24 ′ 47" E 45 ° 3 ′ 15 " N , 39 ° 24 ′ 47" E |
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| Mouth height | 34 m | |
| Height difference | approx. 2066 m | |
| Bottom slope | approx. 7.6 ‰ | |
| length | 273 km | |
| Catchment area | 5990 km² | |
| Left tributaries | Kurdschips , Pschecha | |
| Right tributaries | Kisha, roof | |
| Reservoirs flowed through | Maikoper reservoir, Beloretschensk reservoir | |
| Big cities | Maikop | |
| Medium-sized cities | Belorechensk | |
| Small towns | Kamennomostski , Tulski | |
| Communities | Khamyschki , Dachowskaja , Abadsechskaja , Chanskaja , Velikovetschnaja | |
 The Fischt massif, headwaters of the Belaja |
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_Maykop_1.jpg) Dam of the Maikoper hydropower plant |
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The Belaja ( Russian Бе́лая , translated "The White"; Adygean Шъхьагуащэ , Shchaguashche ) is a 273 kilometer long left tributary of the Kuban in the North Caucasus ( Russia ). Its catchment area covers 5990 km².
course
The Belaja rises at an altitude of about 2100 m on the northeast flank of the main ridge of the Greater Caucasus in the glaciated , highest mountain range of the Republic of Adygeja . The source is a good three kilometers north-northeast of the highest peak Fischt ( 2867 m ) and two kilometers south of Oschten ( 2804 m ), a good 40 kilometers from the coast of the Black Sea and 50 kilometers north-northeast of the center of the city of Sochi .
Initially, the Belaya flows a good 20 kilometers in a south-easterly direction parallel to the main Caucasus ridge, marking the border between Adygeja and the Krasnodar region . Then she turns sharply north in a narrow gorge. In its upper reaches, the Belaya flows through the Caucasus nature reserve . From the right, the Belaja, flowing in a mostly narrow valley, takes in its most important tributaries of this section, Kischa and Dach, before the valley floor widens to several kilometers at the urban-type Kamennomostski settlement .
At the capital of the Republic of Adygeja Maikop , the Belaja is dammed to the Maikoper reservoir. There it leaves the mountains, turns in a northwesterly direction and takes on the character of a calmer flowing flatland river. It takes its most important tributaries Kurdschips and Pschecha from the left , forms arms in its further course and meanders in sections. The Belaya flows there partly in the Republic of Adygea, partly on the territory of the Krasnodar Territory, and partly on the border between the two federal subjects . It finally flows into the Krasnodar reservoir of the Kuban about 35 kilometers east of Krasnodar . This reservoir was created until 1975 and flooded the Tschik dam built in 1941 at the confluence of the Belaya into the Kuban. Since then, the reservoir in this part has been silted up due to the Belaja solids input, so that the course of the river shifts again and again over the last few kilometers and the estuary shifts further and further down into the reservoir into the cuban. The estuary is about four kilometers further west today than it was in 1979.
On the lower reaches, the Belaja is up to 80 meters wide.
Use and infrastructure
The Belaja is not navigable.
Two hydropower plants built in the early 1950s are powered by the river: the Maikoper hydropower plant (Maikopskaja GES) on the reservoir of the same name with a capacity of 9.4 MW and the Belorechensk hydropower plant (Beloretschenskaja GES) with 48 MW, which is located on a canal that The Belaja takes water from the Beloretschensk reservoir below the city of Beloretschensk and leads to the Kuban tributary Pschisch , which flows a few kilometers to the west . The power plant uses the difference in level between the two rivers to generate energy. The power plants are now operated by the regional energy supplier Juschnaja generirujuschtschaja kompanija - TGK-8 , a subsidiary of the Lukoil oil company . At the middle and lower reaches, the Belaja is used to irrigate agricultural areas.
The mountain section of the river is a popular destination for canoe tourists and canoeists because of its relatively good accessibility and variety . In addition to sections that are easy to navigate, there are sections of the highest Russian category 6 (corresponding to V according to the ICF's international white water difficulty scale ).
The Belaja is crossed in Belorechensk by the Armavir - Tuapse railway line , one of the two lines leading to the southern section of the Russian Black Sea coast. In Maikop, a branch of the M29 trunk road, which also connects Armavir with Tuapse, crosses the river. From Beloretschensk a railway line follows the river via Maikop up to Kamennomostsky ( Khadzhoch station ), where it crosses it twice. This railway line follows from Maikop on the regional road R 254, via Kamennomostski to the small settlement and tourist station Guseripl , which is the starting point for canoe tours on the river and a visit to the northern part of the Caucasian nature reserve. From Maikop downstream the river follows the regional road R 253 on the right side at some distance to almost the level of the mouth (from there further via Ust-Labinsk to Korenovsk ), the shortest connection from the north to the Adygeian capital Maikop.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Soviet General Staff Map 1: 100,000. Sheet K-37-8
- ↑ a b Soviet General Staff Map 1: 100,000. Sheet L-37-103
- ↑ a b c Article Belaja in the Great Soviet Encyclopedia (BSE) , 3rd edition 1969–1978 (Russian)
- ↑ Belaja in the State Water Register of the Russian Federation (Russian)
- ↑ Maikop and Beloretschensk hydropower plants on the website of the power grid operator OES Yuga