Kermeter studs

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Sectional view of Kermeter with Kermeter studs
Accessible billboard with ertastbarem relief and Braille Braille on the Kermeter

The Kermeterstollen (also Urftstollen called) in 1905 to coincide with the Urfttalsperre and the power plant Heimbach built. It is an approximately 2.7 km long pressure tunnel in the Kermeter , a mountain range in the northern Eifel in the south-western part of North Rhine-Westphalia ( Germany ).

course

The Kermeter tunnel begins at the Urfttalsperre. Shortly behind the mouth of the tunnel, a shaft (the so-called south shaft) was dug down to the tunnel. A gate valve house was built above this shaft in 1905, into which a 7000 kg gate valve was installed. In August 2002 this was replaced by a more modern valve. With this slide the tunnel to the Urftsee can be closed if, for example, work has to be carried out in the tunnel. From here the tunnel runs with an overburden of up to 220 m through the Kermeter to above the Rur near Hasenfeld . There he feeds the water from the Urfttalsperre to the Heimbach power station. The 2.85 m high and 2.60 m wide tunnel (A = 7 m²) merges into two pressure pipes (downpipes) about 67  meters above the power plant . At the tunnel outlet there is again a valve house, in which there are 2 gate valves, with which the pressure pipes can be shut off separately if necessary. The urft water flows into the Rur after leaving the power station .

History and hydrology

During the construction of the Kermeter tunnel, the opposite site was driven successfully from both sides, the two drives met with an accuracy of less than one meter. The Kermeter tunnel is under constant water pressure, which depends on the water level in the Urft reservoir. Since the Kermeter tunnel shortens a 28 km long river loop, the height of fall to the power plant at the maximum storage height of the dam is 110 m, which is an unusually high value for a low mountain range. Before the exit of the Kermeterstollens above the power station Heimbach in the pressure pipes in an becomes water lock the fluctuating water supplies the water turbines balanced. The surge tank also reduces the pressure surge that occurs when the valves in the pressure pipeline are closed. As can be seen in the sectional view, the moated castle is a vertical shaft that leads down to the tunnel.

On February 10, 1945, German troops blew up the seals in the Kermeter tunnel at the Heimbach power station , whereupon the dam drained to the level of the Kermeter tunnel.

gallery

  • Heimbach power plant with pressure pipes of the Kermeter tunnel (background) and Rur (foreground)

  • Valve house of the Kermeter tunnel at the Urfttalsperre

  • 7000 kg gate valve from 1905

  • Moated castle, building for the shaft closure

  • Blasted Kermeter tunnel closure 1945

Web links

Commons : Kermeterstollen  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Data sheet for the Urft reservoir. (PDF; 152.63 kB) Eifel-Rur Water Association , January 5, 2004, accessed on December 3, 2015 .
  2. ↑ Kraftwerk-Heimbach in Heimbach in the North Eifel (PDF; 103.62 kB) In: Industry and travel photography . Hans Peter Gralingen. January 18, 2007. Retrieved December 30, 2011.
  3. ^ Kermeter tunnel 1945. Retrieved September 29, 2012 .

Coordinates: 50 ° 37 ′ 43 ″  N , 6 ° 27 ′ 7 ″  E