Little Melchaa
| Little Melchaa | ||
 The Kleine Melchaa below the Giswiler Hüttli |
||
| Data | ||
| Water code | CH : 824 | |
| location | Canton of Obwalden ; Switzerland | |
| River system | Rhine | |
| Drain over | Sarner Aa → Reuss → Aare → Rhine → North Sea | |
| source | at Fulenberg 46 ° 45 '59 " N , 8 ° 14' 44" O |
|
| Source height | approx. 2310 m above sea level M. | |
| muzzle | in Giswil in the Dreiwässerkanal Coordinates: 46 ° 50 ′ 19 ″ N , 8 ° 11 ′ 3 ″ E ; CH1903: 656 867 / 187757 46 ° 50 '19 " N , 8 ° 11' 3" O |
|
| Mouth height | 479 m above sea level M. | |
| Height difference | approx. 1831 m | |
| Bottom slope | approx. 14% | |
| length | 13.1 km | |
| Catchment area | 27.93 km² | |
| Discharge at the estuary A Eo gauge: 27.93 km² |
MQ Mq |
1.38 m³ / s 49.4 l / (s km²) |
The Kleine Melchaa ( Swiss German Aa for Ache ) is an approximately 13 km long river in the Kleiner Melchtal in the canton of Obwalden in central Switzerland .
course
The Kleine Melchaa arises from several source streams in the Talalp area at around 1800 m above sea level. M. . The source area lies between the mountains Hohbiel (2037 m) and Hochstollen (2480 m), near the Hohsträss ridge. This forms the border between the canton of Obwalden and the Bernese Oberland . The most important and longest source stream rises at about 2305 m above sea level. M. on the southern slope of the Fulenberg . The Kleine Melchaa flows in its upper course in a north-westerly direction through the here relatively wide and open Kleine Melchtal. As the first large side stream flows at 1350 m above sea level. M. der Chummelbach coming from the Chummelalp into the Kleine Melchaa. The further course of the river now leads in a northerly direction. The valley is becoming increasingly narrow. Other streams flow into the Kleine Melchaa from both sides of the valley. The most important ones are the Älggibach from the right ( coming from the Älggi-Alp ), the water from the Wendelbachgraben from the left and the water from the Brandegggraben and the Rindelgraben from the right. In the further course the Kleine Melchtal narrows to an ever narrower and deeper ravine .
The Kleine Melchaa now flows past Lochcheller ( 854 m above sea level ), Giswiler Hüttli ( 815 m above sea level ) and Cholplatz ( 704 m above sea level ). On its course, the river is accompanied by a gravel road. In the lowest part, the ravine turns to the northwest and finally becomes so narrow that the road has to leave the gorge in a northeastern direction. At the Zollhus ( 475 m above sea level ) the path joins the cantonal road. The valley flows into the Sarneraatal on the eastern edge of the village of Giswil . The river flows from there in a north-easterly direction through the Hanenried nature reserve and flows into Lake Sarnen .
While the upper part of the Kleine Melchaa lies entirely in the area of the municipality of Lungern , the middle part of the river forms the border between Lungern in the west and Sachseln in the east over a length of about 3 km . In the further section, the Kleine Melchaa is the border between Giswil in the southwest and Sachseln in the northeast over a length of approx. 3.5 km . The last kilometer of the course is first in the municipal area of Giswil and finally in the confluence area on that of Sachseln.
Relocation of the course
The course of the Kleine Melchaa after the end of the ravine changed several times over the centuries. After the last ice age the river probably flowed directly into the Sarnersee, similar to the current course. In the 16th century there were plans to move the course of the Kleine Melchaa. It is uncertain whether this actually happened. The Siegfried map (1875) shows that the Kleine Melchaa then flowed through the Giswil district of Diechtersmatt and merged with the Giswil Lauibach and the Sarner Aa (in this area also simply called Aa or Aawasser ) to form the so-called Dreiwässerkanal . This flows north of Giswil into the Sarnersee.
Between 1936 and 1984 severe weather events in the Kleiner Melchtal led to floods in the Diechtersmatt settlement area five times. Even when the Alpine floods in 2005 , the Kleine Melchaa became a torrent and caused great damage. The affected communities and the canton of Obwalden then decided to relocate the course of the Kleine Melchaa and let the river flow directly into the Sarnersee. A large bed load collector was also planned in the Gorgen area.
In 2011, the groundbreaking ceremony for the Kleine Melchaa hydraulic engineering project took place . The construction work, with a planned cost of 16 million Swiss francs, included the construction of the sediment collector Gorgen and the relocation of the channel from the Gorgen area in a direct line into the Sarnersee. The Gorgen sediment collector has a wall around 12 meters high and over 100 in length with space for 70,000 m³ of debris . Construction work was completed in 2015. The Kleine Melchaa has been flowing directly into Lake Sarnen since summer 2015. This course probably corresponds to the natural course of the river before the laying of the creek bed in the early modern period .
Streets
The Kleine Melchtal is accessed by three motorable roads. A road leads from Giswil-Zollhaus right down in the valley of the Kleine Melchaa. A second road leads on the left side of the valley from Kaiserstuhl to the Lungerer Alps. The third road into the Kleine Melchtal runs on the right side of the valley from Sachseln to the Älggi-Alp .
The first street along the Kleine Melchaa was built in 1892 by the master builder Pietro Garovi (1839–1914). It was primarily used to transport wood. Road construction in difficult terrain required a large number of bridges. At the Färligraben an old 12 m long bridge made of round timber from 1900 was preserved until the 1960s. The use of hydropower in the Kleiner Melchtal in the 1920s required the road to be expanded to the Giswiler Hüttli . The water intake was located there. In the narrow ravine of the Kleine Melchaa, one was forced in many places either to blow the passage into the rock face or to wrest it from the water by narrowing the stream. In the years that followed, the street was often buried and flooded. In the 1960s the street was widened. A further expansion took place in 2012 to enable the construction of a new water tunnel.
The road on the left side of the valley was built in 1911. It is located in an area with stream crossings and avalanches. Between 2002 and 2011 the street was renovated.
Use of hydropower
As early as 1904, the parquet manufacturer Zeno Durrer had a first and in 1913 a second hydropower plant built on the Kleine Melchaa. A project proposed by him in 1912 to enlarge the plant by damming water was rejected.
When the Lungerersee power plant was built in the 1920s , people were reliant on the maximum supply of water. Therefore, a tunnel was driven to the Kleine Melchaa to fetch water from there. In the Melchtal, too, the water of the Great Melchaa was collected near the village of Melchtal and led through a 6.5 km long free- running tunnel to the Kleine Melchtal at Giswiler Hüttli ( 815 m above sea level ). There the water from the Great Melchaa crosses the Kleine Melchaa in an aqueduct . The water of the Kleine Melchaa is also caught in a small barrage. A large part of it flows together with the water of the Great Melchaa through a 2 km long reservoir tunnel in a south-westerly direction to the Marchgraben surge and apparatus chamber. From there, the water reaches the Unteraa power station in Giswil via a pressure line, where it is turned into electricity by the Obwalden power station.
Wood rafting, charcoal burning
In the 19th century, wood was loosened intensively in the Kleiner Melchtal. In the upper part of the river near Chalberschwand , the water was dammed up using a «chlus» (a dam made of wooden trunks) and then drained in a surge. As a result, the wood lying ready in the streambed was transported to the valley. Wood often got stuck in the narrow passages and so rafts had to lower themselves into the gorge on ropes and try to loosen the wood with poles. This was dangerous work and some accidents happened. A beggar's nest is still the name of a place where the wood “wouldn't go away” back then. The timber floating means of a "Chlus" was because of the great damage they dished the stream bed, forbidden 1876th From then on, the wood was traveled down the path into the valley in winter.
In the Kleiner Melchtal, charcoal burning was also operated, which the field name Cholplatz attests to today.
Trivia
In winter 2009, a previously unknown animal species was discovered by Obwalden karst and cave researchers in the Riedschwand cave in the Kleiner Melchtal. The cave flatworm is a cave aquatic animal. The worm is snow-white to transparent, about 1.2 by 0.4 cm in size and belongs to the class of vortex worms . The question why this animal species only occurs in the Riedschwand cave according to current knowledge remains unanswered. In honor of the Foundation for Natural Heritage Karst and Caves Obwalden (NeKO), the worm was named Dendrocoelum nekoum .
At the river height of 750 m above sea level. M. protrudes a protruding wall in a semicircle a little over the path next to the river. This place is clearly referred to as the cathedral .
Since water runs in many places from the side walls of the gorge in the lower course of the Kleiner Melchtal, many icicles often form in winter and the valley with entire walls of icicles becomes a destination for excursions.
The Kleine Melchtal is also used for canyoning tours.
At an unauthorized Goa party at Cholplatz in August 2012, a party participant drowned after leaving the party grounds in the Kleine Melchaa, which triggered nationwide press reports.
On April 11, 1948, a small Republic Seabee aircraft crashed in the Melchaa Gorge. The four occupants were thrown into the stream on impact, but survived the crash. A similar accident occurred on July 15, 1990. A single-engine small plane flew too deep into the Kleine Melchtal and crashed. The pilot and two passengers died in this accident.
literature
- Local history association Giswil: Tobel. Little Melchaa Giswil . Giswil 2015 (= Giswil history booklet, issue 13).
gallery
View into the small Melchtal
The "cathedral"
The water intake of the Kleine Melchaa at Giswiler Hüttli
The gravel road crosses the Kleine Melchaa several times.
The driveway was partially carved into the rock in a complex way.
The Cholplatz
On the upper reaches of the Kleine Melchaa
Wall made of icicles in February 2012
Web links
- Melchaaschlucht hike Entry on wanderparadies.ch with a description of the hike and photos
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c Geoserver of the Swiss Federal Administration ( information )
- ↑ a b Modeled mean annual discharge. In: Topographical catchment areas of Swiss waters: sub-catchment areas 2 km². Retrieved August 13, 2017 .
- ↑ Project with very big challenges, flood protection on the Kleine Melchaa in Sachseln and Giswil ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Article in the ONZ Obwalden and Nidwalden newspaper from October 3, 2010
- ↑ Current projects, Kleine Melchaa ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Information page on the website for flood protection of the canton of Obwalden, accessed on September 15, 2012
- ↑ 3000 cubic meters of concrete for a wall Article in the Neue Obwaldner Zeitung from April 28, 2012
- ↑ Flood protection Obwalden - Kleine Melchaa project Website of the building and spatial development department of the canton of Obwalden, accessed May 5, 2017
- ↑ Kleines Melchtal Giswil ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Information page on the private website steinzeichen.ch, accessed on September 16, 2012
- ↑ Below Färligraben, Giswil Sachseln (OW) information page on the wooden bridge, on swiss-timber-bridges.ch, accessed on September 16, 2012
- ^ Giswil Local History Association: Tobel. Little Melchaa Giswil . Giswil 2015 (= Giswil history booklet, issue 13), p. 134 ff.
- ^ Giswil Local History Association: Tobel. Little Melchaa Giswil . Giswil 2015 (= Giswil history booklet, issue 13), p. 144 ff.
- ↑ Angelo Garovi : Durrer, Zeno. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .
- ↑ Historic traffic routes in the canton of Obwalden ( Memento of the original from June 12, 2018 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF; 4.1 MB), Chapter A spectacular wooden path in the valley of the Little Melchaa - The "Viamala" of Obwalden , Federal Roads Office (FEDRO), 2nd, revised edition 2007, p. 24 f.
- ↑ Clus im Dörrsmatt ( Memento of the original from May 2, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Information on the reconstruction of the Dörrsmattchlus with a reference to the Chlus in the Kleiner Melchtal, Giswil Local History Association, accessed on September 16, 2012
- ^ Hugo Müller: Obwalden name book. Kollegium Sarnen, Sarnen 1952, p. 71
- ↑ Dendrocoelum nekoum: Discovery of a globally unknown cave animal species ( Memento of the original from July 15, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , Article from June 1, 2012 on the website of the Foundation «Natural Heritage Karst and Caves Obwalden» (NeKO)
- ↑ TV report about the cave strudelwurm in the Riedschwand cave ( memento of the original from September 28, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , Article from October 9, 2012 on the website of the Foundation «Natural Heritage Karst and Caves Obwalden» (NeKO)
- ↑ Obwalden cave explorers discover new animal species , article from Central Switzerland on Sunday August 5, 2012
- ↑ Canyoning Kleine Melchaa (Obwalden) 2012 video on youtube
- ↑ Goa party ends fatally for 19 year olds Article in the Neue Luzerner Zeitung from August 27, 2012
- ↑ 19-year-old dies at a Goa party in Melchtal, article in the Tages-Anzeiger from August 27, 2012
