Kanderkorrection
The Kanderkorrektion (also Kander puncture or Kander ditch was called) a water courses , in which at the beginning of the 18th century the Kander , previously below the Lake Thun in the Aare , at flowed Some was introduced into Lake Thun.
The Kander originally flowed through the Thuner Allmend and flowed into the Aare between Thun and Uttigen . In this relatively flat area it repeatedly caused floods and deposited large amounts of sediment carried along with it. Since it only flowed a few hundred meters past Lake Thun, a diversion was considered early on. The lake should take up the debris. At the beginning of the 18th century, the engineer Samuel Bodmer dealt with the matter and made plans according to which a cut into the Strättlighügel, which separated Kander and lake, should have been made.
At a meeting on December 30, 1711, the authorities approved the project. In 1712, the tunnel construction and other work began under the direction of the Bern city architect Samuel Jenner . The Second Villmerger War led to a delay. After first digging from above in the opencast mine, a tunnel was built later through which the water from the Hani near Einigen was to be led directly into Lake Thun. The breakthrough took place at the end of 1713. In the course of 1714 the river dug deeper and deeper into the loose moraine rock . This led to the tunnel collapsing on August 18, 1714 and the Kander Gorge being formed. The person responsible for the project, Samuel Bodmer, baker and surveyor, later had to flee Thun after the floods on the Kander repeatedly caused flooding in the city. The bed debris from the Kander accumulated at the confluence with Lake Thun and the Kander Delta, which has been cultivated by gravel mining since 1913.
The kander correction was the first major water correction in Switzerland and a lack of experience subsequently led to major problems. As a result of the Kander correction, the inflow into Lake Thun increased by 60%, for which the Aare was not sufficient as a lake outflow until the earlier influence of the Kander. Thun and its surroundings were regularly flooded up to the first floor of the houses in the following years. The canalization of the Aare in Thun in 1716 caused bank erosion and puddles as a result of the stronger current and the collapse of a bridge and several houses, but did not prevent the floods. A new project from 1720 included an expansion of the Aare bed and the construction of regulating works, which were renewed in 1788 and 1818. It was only with the correction of the Aare between Thun and Bern, from 1871 to 1878, that the problems with the floods were largely eliminated. However, there are still problems with floods in Thun, so that in 2004 a proposal for a relief tunnel was submitted. This tunnel was completed in 2008.
Literature and references
- Daniel L. Vischer: The history of flood protection in Switzerland. From the beginning to the 19th century. (PDF; 4.3 MB) Published by the Federal Office for Water and Geology BWG. Biel 2003. pp. 60-69. (Reports from the BWG, Water series - Rapports de l'OFEG, Série Eaux - Rapporti dell'UFAEG, Acque series, No. 5)
- Maibach, Arthur: Einigen - The most beautiful point in the world , [www.weberverlag.ch Weber AG Verlag], 2010, ISBN 978-3-909532-72-8 , page 55 ff., ( Google Books )
- Web links
- Individual evidence
- ↑ Vischer, Daniel L .: The History of Flood Protection in Switzerland From the Beginnings to the 19th Century , p. 68 ff., Reports of the BWG, Series Water, No. 5, Bern, 2003, (as PDF at bafu. ch)
Coordinates: 46 ° 42 ′ 48 " N , 7 ° 38 ′ 6" E ; CH1903: 615013 / 173594