Main Canal (Volkach)
| Main Canal | |
|---|---|
 The Main Canal near Volkach |
|
| Water code | DE : 243192 |
| location | Bavaria (Germany) |
| length | 6.0 km |
| Built | 1950 to 1957 |
| Beginning | Junction from the Main near Volkach ⊙ |
| The End | Confluence with the Main at Gerlachshausen ⊙ |
The Main Canal is a navigable passage through the Main near Volkach in Lower Franconia . It shortens the southern part of the Main loop and, as a lock and power station canal, belongs to the Gerlachshausen barrage on the main waterway , which is regulated by a dam .
description
The 35 m wide canal, built from 1950 to 1957, branches off from the Main above the Volkach weir and runs 6 km to the south. Below the Gerlachshausen lock and hydropower plant, it reunites with the natural course of the Main. The Main Canal is accompanied by State Road 2271 and the Main Valley Cycle Path . Its construction took place at the time as part of the "emergency measure of value-creating unemployment welfare".
The construction of the Main Canal resulted in the artificial wine island with the wine towns of Nordheim and Sommerach . The Altmain, navigable for small vehicles, flows around the Weininsel for a distance of 12 km.
In April 1955, shipping tests were carried out on the Main Canal in order to determine the optimal cross-section of the planned Main-Danube Canal .
Northern junction from the Main
Southern confluence with the Main
history
The tight turns of the Main loop did not pose any problems for shipping in the Middle Ages and early modern times , because mostly small vehicles were used for shipping . The expansion at the end of the 19th century enabled ships of up to 600 tons to pass through the excavation of a 22 m wide and 90 cm deep fairway. However, the sometimes very small radii when passing through the Main loop (400 to 700 m) put a limit on the expansion of the Main. Only the chain that was laid in the Main made it possible for ships to overcome the tight turns ( see also : Chain shipping on the Main ).
However, the expansion of the Main into a major shipping route below Würzburg was pushed ahead in the 1930s, so that the chain was eliminated in 1938. Now one was faced again with the problem of having to overcome the Main Loop. Initial plans therefore included a 315 m long shipping tunnel between Fahr and Escherndorf / Köhler . However, the tunnel was discarded because it would not allow future widening of the ship types. The ships would have been limited to a length of 67 m and a width of 8.2 m.
Other plans bypassed the Main loop completely during the expansion and designed the so-called "Beilngrieser Linie" with a canal between Wernfeld and Arnstein - Garstadt in the south of Schweinfurt, which would have bypassed large parts of the Main Triangle. After inspections by the Würzburg Construction Office, this route was quickly discarded for geological, agricultural and financial reasons. Now the "Main Line" was discussed again, which provided for bypassing the old Würzburg Main Bridge and channeling the Main Loop.
Initial planning required sewerage from Gerlachshausen. The canal should then run past Obervolkach , through Unterspiesheim , Gochsheim , Untereuerheim to Viereth . A power plant would have been built at Volkacher Kirchberg . Funding and popular protest also led to the failure of this approach. After further drafts, today's breakthrough Volkach-Gerlachshausen was determined for execution in 1941, the Second World War prevented it from being carried out quickly.
The planned start of construction after the World War once again led to protests from the population, as the construction would result in major interventions in nature. In addition, two large heaps were planned for the canal excavation. Construction could only begin through a compromise, which included the preservation of a hillside forest near the Hallburg . The earthworks were put out to tender as early as 1950. From the summer of 1952, the full daily output of 6000 m of advance per day was achieved. A total of 750 workers were working on the construction site in peak operation, so that the construction site made a decisive contribution to reducing unemployment on the Mainschleife.
literature
- Hugo Walter: The breakthrough Volkach-Gerlachshausen . In: Ute Feuerbach (ed.): Our Main Loop. 1993-2007 . Volkach 2008. pp. 231-244.
Map with all coordinates: