Flotzgrün

Flotzgrün
Waters	Rhine
Geographical location	49 ° 16 '49 " N , 8 ° 26' 35" E Coordinates: 49 ° 16 '49 " N , 8 ° 26' 35" E
length	2.1 km
width	1.8 km
surface	3.4 km²

Flotzgrün is an artificial island on the Upper Rhine that was created when the Rhine was straightened at the end of the 19th century. It is located south of Speyer on the left bank of the Rhine and the Berghausen Old Rhine. It belongs to the municipality of Römerberg in the Rhein-Pfalz-Kreis in Rhineland-Palatinate .

Panorama photo of the island of Flotzgrün

use

The island of Flotzgrün is 2.1 km long and a maximum of 1.8 km wide and covers an area of 340 hectares, which is used as an agricultural area and as a polder during floods . On 85 hectares in the north-west, the BASF company operates a landfill on which today non-recyclable construction waste and absolutely no longer usable production residues (highly toxic hazardous waste) are stored. According to BASF, however, what was dumped there in previous years is unknown. The entire landfill is diked and provided with a repairable and controllable base seal. The landfill goods are brought in by ship, seepage water that penetrates is pumped out and taken by ship to Ludwigshafen am Rhein in the company's own sewage treatment plant .

In the southern part of the island there is agricultural land. This part is also enclosed by a ring dike. From a certain water level during high tide, this polder is flooded via two intake works and can absorb 5 million m³ of water. The flood gates are 13.50 meters wide and three meters high. They are opened and closed with a hand-operated hydraulic system. The inflowing water enters a so-called stilling basin with a diameter of 30 meters, which is provided with a semicircular sheet pile wall and lined with armourstones. From there, the water is distributed evenly into the surrounding grassland. After the flood has run off, the gates are closed again.

The construction of the polder took six years and cost 7.8 million euros.

nature

The island, including the surrounding arm of the Old Rhine, is located in the Palatinate Rheinauen landscape protection area . The backwaters including the wood on the banks in the south and west of the island form the Flotzgrün nature reserve . The Elslache natural monument is located on the island , an alternating wet pipe grass meadow with rare plants and animals.