Eider Barrage

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Aerial view of the barrage from the land side

The Eider Barrage is located at the confluence of the Eider in the North Sea near Tönning in Schleswig-Holstein in the area of ​​the municipality of Wesselburenerkoog and on the border with the municipality of Tönning. The main purpose of this largest German coastal protection structure is to protect against storm surges in the North Sea. In addition, the construction work within the framework of the North program should contribute to the economic upswing in the districts of Norderdithmarschen (today part of the Dithmarschen district ) and Eiderstedt (today part of the Nordfriesland district ). As a construction of the century, the barrage was inaugurated on March 20, 1973.

execution

Memorial plaque for the construction of the barrage
Aerial view of the barrage from the lake side
Eider Barrage on the lake side, closed
Construction of the Eider Barrage with control tower, lock and bascule bridge
Bridge and lock open

After Tönning was hit by the Hamburg storm surge in 1962 , it was considered whether to raise the dykes on the banks of the Eider or build a barrage at the mouth. It was decided to use the barrage. Construction work began in 1967. The flow conditions at the mouth caused great difficulties, and the construction costs were correspondingly high (approx. 170 million DM = approx. 87 million euros). The outer dike line in the area of ​​the Eider estuary was shortened from 60 km to 4.8 km. The modified flow conditions dug in the following years, however, to deep to 28 meters Kolke both sides of the barrage, the 1993 45,000  sandbags filled needed.

The barrier consists of two separate rows with five gates each. The system was designed to ensure double dike security. A road runs between the gates, protected by a 236 meter long tunnel. Above the tunnel is a footpath that offers a good view of the west coast and the Eider. A lock for shipping traffic on the Eider is also designed with double gates . Including the newly built dike, the barrage is 4.9 kilometers long, 8.5 meters above sea ​​level and 7 meters above mean high tide . Five gates, each 40 meters long, allow the Eider water to flow into the North Sea at low tide and the North Sea water to flow into the Eider at high tide . Next to it is a 75-meter-long and 13-meter-wide chamber lock through which ships come from the adjacent port into the North Sea.

Operating forms

Depending on the prevailing and announced weather conditions, the barrage is operated in four different operating modes in order to guarantee the hinterland optimal protection from the perils of the North Sea.

  • Normal operation
    In normal operation, all doors are open. The water, Eider and North Sea, can flow unhindered in both directions.
  • Normal operation with flood throttling
    Sea water flows into the Eider from the North Sea. To reduce the amount of sand entering the Eider, the gates on the lake side are partially lowered.
  • Storm surge operation When the
    water level is above one meter above mean high tide, both rows of doors are closed. This is done for reasons of double dike security.
  • Sluice operation
    For sluice operation , only the row of gates on the lake side is closed during the flood season so that the water from the North Sea cannot penetrate the Eider. When the North Sea level falls during the low tide, these are opened to drain the hinterland.

  • Normal operation

  • Normal operation with flood throttling

  • Storm surge operation

  • Operation

Further use

Today the building also serves as a destination for tourists passing through to Eiderstedt with the seaside resorts of Sankt Peter-Ording , Vollerwiek or the excursion town of Garding . Numerous fishing trawlers relocated from Tönning to the fishing port at the barrage, as the distances to the fishing grounds were significantly shorter.

nature

The construction of the barrage resulted in the Katinger Watt nature reserve in the previous Eider estuary ; on the other side of the river, the Dithmarscher Eiderwatt nature reserve was designated in 1989 in order to at least partially compensate for the loss of salt marshes and mud flats caused by the construction of the barrage. A larger colony of arctic terns with 143 pairs of territories brooded at the barrage itself in 2006.

Trivia

The final scene of Wim Wenders ' 1977 film The American Friend takes place at the barrage .

panorama

and display information about the image
The east side of the barrage

literature

  • Friedrich Cordes: Eiderdamm. Building description . Special print from: Die Bautechnik . Issues 11 + 12/1970, 9 + 10 + 11/1971 and 7 + 8/1972, Ernst & Sohn, Berlin 1972.
  • Friedrich Cordes (Ed.): Eiderdamm. Nature and technology . Christians, Hamburg 1972, ISBN 3-7672-0033-3 .
  • Werner Gränert, Heinz Fedders: Storm surge barriers. Technical report August 1974 . Holzmann, Frankfurt am Main 1974.
  • Bodo Higelke, Lutz Orlowski: Eiderabdämmung . Hansen & Hansen, Münsterdorf o. J., ISBN 3-87980-502-4 .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Norddeutsche Rundschau , article from April 16, 1993
  2. ^ Valdemar Kappel: On a discovery tour in the marshland from Friedrichstadt to Ripen . Husum, Husum 2001, ISBN 3-88042-999-5 , p. 19
  3. ^ WSA Tönning: Buildings WSA Tönning. WSA Tönning, accessed on September 4, 2017 .
  4. ↑ Information board at the Eider Barrage
  5. ↑ Not river, not sea. In Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung on December 30, 2012, page 60
  6. ^ Pia Klatt, Kai Labrenz: Filmland Schleswig-Holstein . Boyens, Heide 2001, ISBN 3-8042-1138-0 , p. 135.

Web links

Commons : Eider Barrage  - collection of images, videos and audio files
Wikivoyage: Eider Barrage  - travel guide

Coordinates: 54 ° 15 '52 "  N , 8 ° 50' 44"  E