Middle Weser gravel extraction
The gravel mining on the middle Weser mainly affects the area of the Middle Weser south of Nienburg / Weser . It is currently the most severely affected area in Lower Saxony by gravel mining . According to the land extraction plan (BALP), an area of 1,580 ha is designated as a priority area (2000 to 2030) for the extraction of raw materials. To date, around 500 hectares of water have been created since the mid-1960s. This area will roughly double by 2035.
Landscape image
Land use and vegetation
The Mittelweser region consists of flat land, on both sides of the Weser and its tributaries there are wide marshland, geest and moorland landscapes with forests that have remained originally. Large parts of the area are used for agriculture. The southern part of the Central Weser region belongs to the Central Weser Valley, to which the Aller glacial valley connects to the north.
geology
rock
The most important sand and gravel deposits are in the Weser Valley floodplain. The thickness of the gravel body generally varies between 6 and 11 m, locally as much as 17 m. The average, however, is 7–8 m. The gravel body is covered by an average of 1.5–2.5 m thick alluvial clay. The proportion of grain sizes 2–32 mm (common delivery sizes) is on average 40–50%. Due to its petrographic composition (sandstone 62%, silica slate 15%, porphyry 10%, quartzite 6%, flint 2%, granite and gneiss 2%, clay slate 1%, limestone 0.5%) and the general lack of interfering components such as wood and coal, the gravel deposits are very suitable for the production of concrete and concrete products. There are also gravel sands in a strip west of the Weser valley between Wellie and Böthel. The gravel content of the 14 m thick layers is on average 25–30%. These gravel sands are also suitable as high-quality concrete aggregates. The gravel deposits in the Weser valley have been designated for priority exploitation according to the land extraction master plan.
Subsequent use
Up until now, closed gravel extraction waters have mostly been subject to nature and landscape protection. In the past few decades, proposals for tourist use have been discussed several times. Implementation has not yet been decided. In order to meet the conflicting interests in the reuse of gravel extraction waters, concepts for the subsequent uses of tourism and recreation were commissioned at the end of the 1990s. Further specialist plans were developed for the areas of agriculture and nature conservation. However, an implementation has not been completed due to the still prevailing wind-down activities.
literature
- Backhaus, Jörg, Thomas Mosimann: Gravel mining creates a new landscape - history, conflicts and subsequent use of a raw material extraction area on the Mittelweser .