Sorpe dam

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Sorpe dam
View of the barrage dam and the Sorpesee with Langscheid, foreground below: compensation pond
View of the barrage dam and the Sorpesee with Langscheid, foreground below: compensation pond
Location: Hochsauerlandkreis
Tributaries: Sorpe
Larger places nearby: Sundern , Arnsberg
Sorpe Dam (North Rhine-Westphalia)
Sorpe dam
Coordinates 51 ° 21 '1 "  N , 7 ° 58' 3"  E Coordinates: 51 ° 21 '1 "  N , 7 ° 58' 3"  E
Data on the structure
Construction time: 1926-1935
Height above valley floor: 60 m
Height above foundation level : 69 m
Height of the structure crown: 285  m above sea level NN
Building volume: 3,380,000 m³
Crown length: 700 m
Power plant output: 7.42 MW
Data on the reservoir
Water surface 3.30 km²dep1
Total storage space : 70 million m³

The Sorpe dam is located in the Hochsauerland district of North Rhine-Westphalia between the districts of Langscheid and Amecke in the city of Sundern . Around 10 kilometers southwest of Arnsberg, it dams the water of the Sorpe to the Sorpesee, the deepest reservoir in the Sauerland. With a dam 69 meters high, a total storage volume of 70 million cubic meters will be created. The dam in the north of the Sauerland-Rothaargebirge nature park belongs to the Ruhrverband , which is based in Essen and one of its main tasks is to stabilize and increase the low water flow in the Ruhr .

Construction of the dam

The Ruhr forms an essential pillar for the water supply of the Ruhr area , because the waterworks in the Ruhr draw water from the Ruhr and thus enrich the groundwater after pre-treatment, which is then treated to drinking water. In order to ensure sufficient water flow in the Ruhr, the owners of the waterworks and engines founded the Ruhrtalsperrenverein (RTV) in 1899 to support the construction of dams in the Sauerland. The first own dam was the Möhne dam in 1912 .

The increasing demand for water in the 1920s with the drought of 1920/21 prompted the RTV to build another dam in the Sorpetal. The Sorpe is a tributary of the Röhr , which flows into the Ruhr at Arnsberg- Hüsten . For the construction of the barrier, the Neheim-Hüsten-Sundern railway line received a branch line to the planned Sorpedamm. Over a newly built viaduct , steam locomotives of the Röhrtalbahn pulled heavy construction trains with a total of over 300,000 tons of construction material to the construction site, which was the largest construction site in Europe from 1926 to 1935.

As a barrier structure, a dam with a core seal was built for the first time in North Rhine-Westphalia , which divides the dam into a water-side sealing body and an air-side support body. The slim core wall made of concrete between the rock bottom and the dam crest supports the clay seal in front of it , which was supplemented in the upper part in 1996 by an additional sealing wall. In the lower part of the core wall, a control tunnel runs across the entire width of the valley from slope to slope. In these drainage lines from the concrete core and the bottom drainage flow so that the tightness of the dam can be monitored. The dam has a volume of almost 3.4 million cubic meters.

The original reservoir had a capacity of 68 million cubic meters. With an expansion of 230%, the storage volume was significantly larger than the annual inflow volume and is therefore considered to be an extreme long-term storage facility . To increase efficiency, the catchment area was enlarged at the end of the 1950s by leading water from the neighboring valleys into the dam via a bypass system. The catchment area was expanded from the original 53 km² to 100.3 km². In 1963, the stowage destination was allowed to be increased by 60 centimeters, which increased the storage volume to 70 million cubic meters.

Operating facilities

The main purpose of the dam is to provide additional water for water consumption in the middle and lower Ruhr. The central control of the water delivery is carried out by the dam control center of the Ruhr Association in Essen. In addition, the barrier is used for flood protection in order to cut the high water peaks in times of high precipitation or in thaws with melting snow . A flood protection room must therefore be kept free in winter .

Although the dam was primarily planned to regulate water, a pumped storage power plant was built at the foot of the dam to use the water level difference of 56 meters to generate electricity. A power plant line leads on the right slope to two Francis turbines with horizontal shafts, each with an output of 3.6 MW. To reduce the discharge peaks of the turbines from a maximum of 16 cubic meters per second (m³ / s), an equalizing pond is located at the foot of the dam, which also serves as an intermediate storage facility for night-time pumping operations. A maximum of 8 m³ / s can be pumped back into the reservoir. The ongoing water discharge into the Sorpe is made by a separate Kaplan turbine , which can discharge up to 3.6 m³ / s. The power plant is operated by Lister- und Lennekraftwerke GmbH in Olpe, a 100 percent subsidiary of the Ruhr Association.

A bottom outlet on the left slope allows any emptying, which can be regulated via two needle valves. The flood relief structure is located on the right bank in front of the dam crest. This prevents water that cannot be stored from flowing over the dam crest and being discharged through it without damage. The water is directed over a 100 meter long fixed threshold into the drainage channel, which flows into a cascade at the dam crest and merges into the Sorpe underflow at the foot of the dam.

At the root of the dam near Amecke , the RTV set up a forecourt with a permanent damming in order to hold back the suspended matter carried in the inflow. At the same time, this results in an improvement in the visual impression in the area of ​​the reservoir root, which is otherwise strongly characterized by falling dry due to the fluctuating water levels . In addition, a pre-basin is easier to empty and remove the deposited substances.

The central control of the water delivery into the Ruhr is carried out by the dam control center of the Ruhrverband in Essen. As a result of the 1990 merger of RTV and Ruhrverband, which operates wastewater treatment for 2.2 million people in the same association area, the Ruhrverband now has eight of its own dams in the catchment area (see navigation bar under See also ).

  • Construction of the core seal in 1926

  • View into the control tunnel

  • Compensatory pond, power plant and dam

  • View into the power plant

  • Threshold of flood relief

  • Cascade of flood relief

Second World War

During the Second World War , the Sorpesees dam was the target of bomber attacks during the night of May 16-17, 1943, as were the Eder dams and the Möhne dams as part of Operation Chastise . With special roll bombs the No. 617 Squadron of the British Royal Air Force with Avro Lancaster bombers to destroy the dam. In contrast to the dam walls on Möhne and Eder, the dam withstood the attacks and was only slightly damaged. Another British attack with Lancaster bombers on October 15, 1944 with ten 5.4-ton Tallboy bombs in direct throw also failed, only several bomb craters were created and little water spilled over.

As an aftermath of the attacks in 1951, water ingress and mud washings were found in the drainage pipes of the concrete core. Immediate cement grouting could significantly reduce this. The cause was found to be the bottom outlet pipe, which had been torn off in front of the concrete core due to the bomb vibrations. This was eliminated by pulling in a new steel pipeline. In order to repair all war damage and to search for duds , the dam had to be drained completely. However, this was not possible because at that time the Hennetalsperre was not yet available again as a second storage space in the upper Ruhr valley. This work could only be carried out in 1959. The Tallboy bomb from the second attack was also discovered. Langscheid was completely evacuated on January 6, 1959. North Rhine-Westphalia's then chief fireworker Walter Mietzke and Lieutenant James M. Waters of the British Armed Forces defused the three unpredictable long-term detonators ( colloquially called "acid detonators ") of the 3.6 meter long bomb, which contained 2.5 tons of explosives.

Industrial Heritage Route

dismantled bottom drain valve

The Sorpe Dam is part of the Route of Industrial Culture . It is actually a network of different themed routes to individual areas of industrial development over the past centuries. Theme route 12 deals with the route of industrial culture - past and present of the Ruhr , in which the Sorpe dam is listed.

Since 2017, the Sorpedamm with its important operating facilities has been registered as a monument, so that all conservation measures must be coordinated with the authorities responsible for compliance with the monument protection.

Freetime activities

The Sorpesee offers recreational opportunities such as diving, rowing, sailing, surfing, beach volleyball, golf, fishing, hiking, climbing and others, which are used by many people from the Ruhr area and the Netherlands . The Sorpesee passenger ship is available for excursions during the tourist season. There are four DLRG stations on the adjacent campsites ; at the front pool (DLRG OG Amecke), campsite 4 (DLRG OG Arnsberg), campsite 2 (DLRG OG Sundern) and at the lido (DLRG OG Langscheid), as well as a DRK station at campsite 3 .

In 2005, the Sorperand Canal, which runs parallel to the riverside road, was built along the western bank between the villages of Sundern-Amecke and -Langscheid. The canal leads the wastewater from above the dam to a sewage treatment plant below in order to protect the dam from pollution and nutrients. A new, structurally separated cycle and sidewalk was created on the route .

photos

  • Dam with a crown length of 700 m

  • Amecke pre-basin with dam

  • Vordamm Amecke

  • Sorpesee

  • Breeding mute swan in the forecourt of the lake

See also

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Technical information from the Ruhr Association on the Sorpe Dam
  2. ^ Albert Hoffmann: The Sorpe Dam - follow-up report 3 - the 2nd World War. Sunderner Heimatblätter 2015, 25th episode: 28–30
  3. ↑ The biggest dud is defused today . Hamburger Abendblatt. January 6, 1959. Archived from the original on July 14, 2014. 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. Retrieved August 13, 2014. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.abendblatt.de
  4. ↑ Sorpe Reservoir is now a monument on: sauerlandkurier.de
  5. ↑ personenschifffahrt-sorpesee.de
  6. ↑ Heinz Maus: Lecture at the 8th Ruhrverband Forum  ( page can no longer be accessed , 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.@1@ 2Template: Toter Link / www.ruhrverband.de  

Web links

Commons : Sorpesee  - album with pictures, videos and audio files