Tönjes Bley

Tönjes Bley (born January 21, 1757 on the Horster Grashaus farm near Horsten (today: Friedeburg municipality ); † December 18, 1814 in Aurich ) was an East Frisian hydraulic engineer and land surveyor. His greatest work is the construction of the Treckfahrtstief , a forerunner of the Ems-Jade Canal . Bley was born the eighth of nine children. The parents lived as householders on the farm Horster Grashaus, which belonged to the Prussian rulership.

On October 14, 1777, Bley began studying mathematics, natural science and hydrotechnology at the University of Halle. He took his exam after six years of study, which was interrupted by several trips. Then he returned to his East Frisian homeland.

As a hydraulic engineering conductor, he initially found a job in Leer . He recognized the value of planting Helm in the dunes of the East Frisian Islands in order to curb the progressive loss of land after storm surges. Bley also mapped the East Frisian-Oldenburg border as well as the fen settlements that had emerged in the region over the previous 160 years .

After 1789 Bley worked as dike construction commissioner for the Lower Emsian and Upper Emsian dykes. His greatest achievement, the construction of the Treckfahrtstief in just two years (1798 to 1800), also fell during this period. He implemented plans that had existed since the 17th century but were never implemented, namely the construction of a canal between the cities of Emden and Aurich, the most important seaport in the region and the seat of the East Frisian administration. The canal improved the traffic connection between the two cities, which until then had been dependent on poorly developed roads that were often flooded in winter.

Five horse-drawn trek barges were obtained from the Netherlands . They were used to transport people as well as goods until the low trek in the middle of the 1850s after the construction of Steinchausseen lost its importance. Bley's initial plans to extend the canal to Esens and Wittmund were not implemented. Parts of the low-level trek are now integrated into the Ems-Jade Canal from Emden to Wilhelmshaven , which was built from 1880 to 1888.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Unless otherwise stated, the information in this article comes from the article about Bley in the Biographisches Lexikon für Ostfriesland (PDF file; 53 kB).