Machland Dam
The Machland dam was after the 2002 flood disaster , the largest flood protection project in Austria . It was completed on August 25, 2012.
To a total of 36.4 km were dams built, the 22,000 residents in 1000 houses and more Machland against floods to protect. The total costs amounted to around 183 million euros. From 2009, funds from the economic stimulus package II were used, which contributed significantly to the rapid completion. The impetus for the project was the floods in 1991. In 1993, seven affected communities founded the “Danube-Machland Flood Protection Association”.
History of the Machland Dam
With the construction of the Wallsee-Mitterkirchen power station , the northern Machland was largely separated from the Danube by the dams in the dam area, and there is only a connection at medium and large floods.
Although the frequency of floods decreased, especially in Naarn and Mitterkirchen after the power plant was built, problems arose with larger floods because the water thrown over the overflow section caused considerable damage in the hinterland. The possibilities for improving the situation were discussed without any concrete action being taken.
Triggered by the floods in 1991, a comprehensive study was drawn up for the four central Machland communities from 1993 to 1995, which included linear measures in the form of dams, with two degrees of expansion, namely HQ100 in areas remote from the river and less critical areas and HQ25 in areas close to the Danube, where a higher degree of protection seemed intolerable.
As a result of the foreseeable spaciousness, the underlying municipalities of Grein and St. Nikola, but also Mauthausen upstream (in the event of a backwater) wanted to have clarity about a possible influence or to participate in flood protection. On June 15, 1993, the Danube - Machland flood protection association was formed in its current form, with the member communities Mauthausen, Naarn , Mitterkirchen , Baumgartenberg , Saxen , Grein and St. Nikola an der Donau .
After completing the study for the central Machland , a study to improve the flood situation in the municipalities of Mauthausen, Grein and St. Nikola was drawn up, in which, in addition to a proposed variant, several solutions are presented and which was completed in 1996.
After a determination procedure was carried out, it was decided in 1997 by decision of the Upper Austrian state government and by decision of the environmental senate that an environmental impact assessment should be carried out using a simplified procedure for the construction of protective structures in the central Machland communities . The planned projects in the riverside communities of Mauthausen, Grein and St. Nikola were excluded from the implementation of an EIA procedure at this time.
With the tendering and assignment of project coordination in 1999/2000, the detailed project planning phase began as a prerequisite for the creation of the environmental impact declaration. In August 2002, most of the documents for the EIA procedure were completed; the EIA would have been submitted to the authorities in September 2002. However, the flood catastrophe in the 2nd week of August 2002 led to planning being halted, as the consequences of this flood of the century could not be foreseen at the time.
The devastating effects of the August floods ultimately led to significant project changes, on the one hand due to the acceleration of passive protective measures in the form of resettlements and on the other hand due to a height adjustment of the planned protective structures. After the detailed projects and the environmental impact declaration had been revised, the planned project was submitted to the EIA authority in November 2003.
Preliminary work
A legally binding decision of principle has now been issued and a construction company to handle the construction has been founded. It is headed by two managing directors, Werner Peterseil and Gerhard Mysliwietz, who was also the site manager for the Bindermichel tunnel. The affected communities are shareholders.
"The financing issues have been clarified, so that the essential framework conditions are in place," says Regional Councilor Rudi Anschober . Nevertheless, there are no binding statements about a possible start of construction. "We wish for autumn 2008", says Erwin Kastner, Mayor of Baumgartenberg . “But only when the first excavator rolls in will the population's uncertainty disappear,” he is convinced. The start of construction depends, among other things, on the basic redemption. Negotiations are taking place with 500 landowners.
The completion of the work is just as open as the beginning. “We assume seven years. We would be very happy any day earlier, ”says Anschober. He and his colleagues Franz Hiesl and Josef Ackerl are on the advisory board of the establishment company. "There are difficult questions to clarify, so it is important that the three parliamentary groups of the state government are represented on the advisory board," says Hiesl. The state government has granted the basic approval for the construction of the flood protection facilities. The detailed permit has already been given for “lot five”, while negotiations on the basic redemption of the remaining sections are still ongoing.
As a first construction measure, a test dam is being built in Mitterkirchen. The optimal composition of the bulk material for the dam body is determined in order to achieve the highest possible tightness and stability. The first tenders are already running for Mauthausen. In the best case scenario, preparatory work for mobile flood protection will begin in Mauthausen in autumn.
The first meeting of Machland-Damm GmbH took place in the new office in the Perg road maintenance depot.
swell
- ^ ORF Upper Austria
- ↑ Machland dam in Upper Austria protects 22,400 people from flooding, in: Der Standard
- Flood Protection Association Donau-Machland Association chairman Mayor Erwin Kastner
- Werner Consult ZiviltechnikergmbH