New Danube
The New Danube is an orographically left, (north) eastern straight branch of the Danube in Vienna . It was built as part of the second Viennese Danube regulation from 1972 to 1987 as a relief water for flood protection. The approximately 100 to 300 m wide Vienna Danube Island lies between the New Danube and the main river .
course
The New Danube, which is only about 200 m wide, begins in the municipality of Langenzersdorf with a weir called the inlet structure immediately after the branching off from the main stream, which is only opened when the Danube is flooding. As a rule, therefore, the water of the New Danube is standing, turbid substances washed in during flooding settle over time and the water becomes clear and then appears darker in the view.
The riverside paths on both sides, analogous to the Danube, are kilometered against the direction of flow every half a kilometer , on the left bank of the "mainland" of the city districts 21 and 22 with a preceding "L", on the right bank formed by the Danube Island with an "R" - each with one place after the comma.
In order to be able to absorb sufficient water as a narrower relief channel during floods , the bottom of the New Danube is deeper than that of the main stream. Weir 1 at km 9.5 and weir 2 at km 1.8 regulate the water level of the New Danube, which is fed by bank filtrate from the 300 to 350 m wide main stream of the Danube, which is consistently higher. The Danube power plant Freudenau is located in the main stream at 4.5 km .
Even further to the left of the New Danube, at a height of km 15 to 9.5, the Old Danube , which is also used for bathing and which was created when the Danube was first regulated, runs in an arch , previously the main stream.
To the right of the main stream runs from km 17.5 to km 2, the Danube Canal , which is only 50 m narrow and far away from the river , the arm of the Danube , which was built over centuries and closest to the city center, previously known as the Vienna Arm . More strongly curved and with a clearly perceptible current, it leads in the south-west to the 1st district.
Building history and function in flood protection
The New Danube runs parallel to the river through the Viennese urban area for a distance of about 21 km, from the branching off from the main river in the municipality of Langenzersdorf in Lower Austria in the northwest through the 21st municipality to the confluence with the main river at the Donau-Auen National Park in the 22nd District in the southeast. Where the New Danube and the Danube Island extend today, there was previously the floodplain created by the first Viennese Danube regulation in 1868–1875, a vast meadow landscape that was under water when the water was flooded. The left, northern bank of the New Danube is secured by the Hubertusdamm (Marchfeld-Schutzdamm), which was built until 1875.
From July 8 to 28, 1954 , Vienna was hit by a devastating flood that flooded the city-side bank in several places and threatened the Floridsdorf districts of Jedlesee and Schwarzlackenau for days through seepage . The Marchfeld protection dam had to be raised with sandbags in order to withstand the masses of water, and the fire brigade had to save 186 people from danger to their lives. It was only thanks to the improving weather that no flood disaster occurred.
The event demonstrated the inadequacy of flood protection in the Vienna area, which could only withstand a flow rate of around 10,000 m³ / s. In 1957, therefore, the planning for improved flood protection began. After years of discussion, a new Danube regulation plan was created, which provided for the creation of a drainage channel and the filling of an elongated island in the Danube.
Construction began on May 29, 1972, and all work was not completed until October 13, 1987.
The official name Neue Donau was decided by the responsible municipal council committee in 1984; The name was used for the first time in 1969 in the PR work of the town hall, because the term relief channel was not suitable for popularizing the building project.
Thanks to the new structure, a flood rate of up to 14,000 m³ / s can flow off safely. The water level is then still one meter below the crest of the dams, as was the case during the flood of 1501 with the highest water level recorded in Vienna to date. In this case, the water volume is divided into 5,200 m³ / s on the New Danube and 8,800 m³ / s on the main stream.
The total costs for the construction amounted to 4.5 billion schillings , together with the right Danube dam that was built at the same time, 7 billion schillings. Around 30 million cubic meters of earth were moved during the construction work.
At the beginning of the New Danube there is an inlet structure called a weir, which is usually closed, which makes the New Danube a stagnant body of water. In the event of high water it is opened so that the Danube can be relieved and floods can be avoided. This usually results in a bathing ban for up to a few weeks in the New Danube, until the water reaches bathing water quality again. Further weir systems are located just upstream of the Prater Bridge (weir 1) and at the level of the Lobau oil port (weir 2) about 1.5 km before the New Danube joins the main stream. The level of the Danube River is higher than that of the New Danube. As a result, the New Danube is continuously fed by Danube water, which is filtered and cleaned by the body of the island on its passage through the Danube Island. Excess water from the New Danube is continuously drained via weirs 1 and 2.
In June 2017, a small power plant went into operation in the area of weir 1, which supplies around 130 households with electricity from hydropower. The difference in water level between the Danube and the New Danube (around 3.5 m) is used. With the help of a hydropower screw , 400,000 kilowatt hours of energy are to be generated per year .
Use for recreation and tourism
The New Danube is connected to the underground lines U6 ( Station New Danube ), U1 ( station Donauinselfest ) and U2 ( Donaustadtbrücke station ), with the train and regional trains (Station Handelskai ), with the over the Floridsdorfer bridge trains running tram 31 and can be reached with various urban bus routes .
There is a regatta course - the World Rowing Championships were held there in 1991 and the World Rowing Masters in 2009 - and a water ski lift. Around 2013 a paddle slalom training course with a flow of water was built at approx. Km R6.8 on the Danube Island. Clear water from the New Danube is circulated in the system built on the Danube Island by electrically operated pumps. The water of the main stream, which is sufficiently higher up, is not used, since the introduction of cloudy water into the clear New Danube - because it is usually fed by groundwater and banks - would contradict nature conservation. Private motor boats are not permitted on the New Danube.
The best-known section of the bank is the Copa Cagrana (named after the Kagran district ) near the Reichsbrücke, referred to as Copa Beach in 2018 .
Events
On December 5, 2015, just downstream of weir 1, in extremely clear water, more than 100,000 euros of valid cash, loose bills that appeared brightly against a dark background, mostly 500 euros banknotes, were discovered by a passer-by who notified the police. The money was at least largely recovered by the police on the same day and the following day. The almost 130,000 euros - in a bank account - were still in the care of the lost property office in 2016. A man who wanted to claim it was investigated for attempted fraud.
See also
Web links
- Plan of the New Danube and the Danube Island , wien.gv.at
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Entry “Neue Donau” in: Raimund Hinkel, Kurt Landsmann: Floridsdorf von AZ, The 21 District in 1,000 Keywords , Vienna 1997, ISBN 3-85447-724-4
- ^ Felix Czeike : Historical Lexicon Vienna. Volume 2: De-Gy. Kremayr & Scheriau, Vienna 1993, ISBN 3-218-00544-2 , p. 65 (keyword Danube, Neue ).
- ↑ leaflet Vienna and the Danube , ed. Press and Information Service of the City of Vienna, Vienna 1969, Section The "New Danube"
- ↑ New small hydropower plant on the Danube Island. Wien Energie, July 13, 2016, accessed on June 11, 2017 .
- ↑ Wien Energie: Schnecke supplies clean electricity. APA OTS, June 9, 2017, accessed June 12, 2017 .
- ↑ Money from the New Danube "is real". In: orf.at. December 6, 2015, accessed December 6, 2015 .
- ↑ Fund: many "owners" reported. In: orf.at. December 7, 2015, accessed December 7, 2015 .
- ↑ Trial: Fraudsters wanted money from Neuer Donau. In: orf.at. April 25, 2016. Retrieved April 25, 2016 .
Coordinates: 48 ° 14 ′ 0 ″ N , 16 ° 24 ′ 20 ″ E