Whitewater facility

Whitewater course on the ice canal in Augsburg

A whitewater facility is an artificially created whitewater course for whitewater paddling , playboating , hydrospeed , sit-on-top and rafting , as well as for training and competitions in whitewater racing , canoe slalom and freestyle .

Artificial white water

Surfer on the standing wave in Munich's Eisbach

Ice channel in Augsburg without water, with rounded concrete obstacles

Artificial waves

The simplest form of artificial white water is a mimicked standing wave in a natural river bed, such as the two standing waves in the Mur under the Archduke Johann and Radetzky Bridge in Graz . Artificial waves are often found on structures that were built for a different purpose, for example at the outflow of a level recorder or on artificial steps that were built into a river to reduce the flow velocity. Artificial waves can also be built into a canal , such as the Eisbach wave in Munich . Artificial standing waves are popular not only with canoeists , but also with surfers .

Artificial white water stretches

Artificial whitewater stretches can also be created during hydraulic engineering . It is not uncommon for stone entrances to be built into outer curves of fast-flowing rivers at regular intervals, which on the one hand slow the flow speed and on the other hand create eddy waters . Examples are the Lieserschlucht near Spittal or the Thur near Gütighausen (coordinates: location, the stone entrances are visible in the outer curve on the satellite image ). 47.595561 8.717512

Artificial whitewater systems

An artificial whitewater facility consists of several obstacles in a row that were built for water sports. It can either be installed in a natural river bed or in an artificial white water channel. Compared to a natural whitewater route, whitewater systems offer several advantages. Artificial facilities can ensure more uniform conditions in competition and training. They are easily accessible, whereas natural stretches are typically in remote mountain valleys. Whitewater systems are safer, as undermined banks and similar sources of danger are excluded as far as possible. The water level can often be influenced by locks and there are usually no dangerous level fluctuations (sink and surge) due to hydropower plants . Artificial systems at least partially compensate for the loss of natural whitewater stretches on wild rivers and torrents that is associated with the increasing construction of hydropower plants .

Construction and function

Whitewater systems require a height difference and enough water so that the current is strong enough. They work either by feeding in from a natural river, by pumps, or via the tide .

A number of possible combinations and variations of obstacles and water flow can be set using changeable fixtures and an adjustable water flow. This allows very high levels of difficulty to be achieved without unnecessarily endangering water sports enthusiasts.

Canoe slalom course of the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens

In whitewater canals with pumps, the water is pumped up again after it has flowed down the canal. Such canals are usually 300 m long and circular or U-shaped. In addition to the costs of building a system, there are high operating costs, typically 1–2 MW of electricity are required to pump 15 m³ / s of water 5 m high. The costs must be covered by entrance fees. Therefore a high utilization is necessary. A freestyler or playboater who practices in a wave for a long time is not as attractive as as many recreational athletes as possible in a raft . In this respect, very complex systems are not necessarily the best training facilities. At night, the pumps are usually switched off for cost reasons.

For the Olympic canoeing sport canoe slalom , the paddling route must meet certain criteria. That is why several whitewater systems with pumps have already been built in the course of the Olympic Games if the host city does not have a route with a natural river nearby. The high costs of setting up a system with pumps gave rise to the consideration of eliminating canoe slalom from Olympic sports .

history

The first artificial whitewater facility was used for the 1972 Olympic Games of Augsburger ice track built. In Sydney, the Penrith Whitewater Stadium was built for the 2000 Games . In Athens the Olympic Canoe / Kayak Slalom Center was built in the Helliniko Olympic Complex for the 2004 Games . For Leipzig's application as a candidate for the 2012 Olympics, a white water course was created in Markkleeberg on Lake Markkleeberg . After Sydney and Athens, the third artificial sports and competition facility in the world was built here, which complies with the new ICF guidelines for canoe slalom .

List of whitewater facilities

investment	country	length	Type	WW	Remarks
Augsburg ice channel	Germany Bavaria)	660 m (Olympic course)	channel	IV	First artificial whitewater facility, created for the 1972 Olympic Games ; Federal performance center, Olympic base
Markkleeberg Canoe Park	Germany (Saxony)	270 m (training distance 130 m)	pump	IV	First completely artificial system in Germany with electric circulation pumps, opened in 2007
Salinental Bad Kreuznach	Germany (Rhineland-Palatinate)		flow	I-II	Created in the vicinity ; State performance center
Canoeing facility Bischofsmühle Hildesheim	Germany (Lower Saxony)	200 m	flow	I-III	Established in the Innerste , built in 1982, water flow through adjustable weir adaptable, 4 artificial levels (100m) and in addition several Kehrwässen in the "natural level" (100m)
Hohenlimburg wild water park , Hagen	Germany (North Rhine-Westphalia)	300 m	flow	II	Located in the Lenne , renovated in 2015; Federal base, state performance center, Olympic base
Flattach whitewater arena	Austria ( Carinthia )	350 m, height difference 3 m	flow	III	Line built in 2014 in the Möll ; Permanently installed slalom gates, average discharge of 10–20 m³ / s
Hüningen wild water park	France (Alsace)	350 m	channel	II-III	Established in 1993 in the Hüningen port of the Hüningen Canal
Stade d'eau vive de L'Argentière-la-Bessée	France ( Hautes Alpes )	450 m, difference in altitude 4 m	flow	III	1993 opened whitewater route in the Durance with a gradient of around 1%; Rebuilt in 2007, suitable flow 50 - 80 m³
St. Clement	France ( Hautes Alpes )	200 m, height difference 2 m	flow	II	artificial route in the Durance with a 1% gradient; 32 permanently installed slalom gates, 3 toy boat waves, towing canal for ascent, suitable flow rate 20 - 100 m³ / s
Center Eaux Vives Bourg St. Maurice	France ( Savoy )	300 m ICF course, 200 m training course	flow	IV	artificial route in the Isère ; The upper section from the railway bridge to the road bridge has an ICF level with a 4% gradient and 12 m height difference. The Slalom World Championships took place there in 1969 , 1987 and again in 2002 after the renovation after the floods in 1996 . After the railway bridge there is a 200 m long training track with a 1.5% gradient, so that the track is 500 m long. A suitable flow rate is 20m³ / s, with more than 30m³ / s the difficulties increase significantly.
Čunovo Water Sports Center	Slovakia (near Bratislava )	356 m (competition), 460 m (training)	channel	II	In 1996 the Gabčíkovo power plant was built on a small island in the Danube near the reservoir with a difference in altitude of 6.6 m on both routes
Parc Olímpic del Segre in La Seu d'Urgell	Spain (Catalonia)	300 m, height difference 6.5 m	channel		Created for the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona. The route has a gradient of 2.2%. The water of the Segre is drained off at a dam located above. At low water, four 300 kW pumps can add up to 12 m³ / s of water to achieve the maximum flow of 17.5 m³ / s. When the line is not in use, or when the high tide exceeds 17.5 m³ / s, the pumps are reversed and operated as turbines to generate electricity for the city.
Ocoee Whitewater Center	United States ( Tennessee )	415 m, difference in altitude 9 m	flow		Established on the occasion of the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta, the first natural course in Olympic history. The Upper Ocoee River is usually dry due to a hydropower plant and is flooded at lunchtime for commercial rafting on summer weekends. The route has a gradient of 2.2%.
Penrith Whitewater Stadium	Australia ( Sydney )	320 m, height difference 5 m	pump		Created for the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney . The route has a gradient of 1.6%.
Helliniko Olympic Canoe / Kayak Slalom Center	Greece ( Athens )		pump		Created for the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens. 17.5 m³ / s were pumped for the Olympic competition. In August 2014 the facility was dry.
Shunyi Olympic Rowing and Canoeing Park	PR China, ( Beijing )		pump		Created for the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, no longer in operation
Lee Valley White Water Center	England ( Waltham Cross )	300 m	pump		Created for the 2012 Olympic Games in London. The route has a gradient of 1.8%.
Olympic Whitewater Stadium	Brazil ( Rio de Janeiro ), Deodoro district	280 m	pump		Created for the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. In the X-Park section of the Deodoro Olympic Parc there is an Olympic WW III-IV course and a WW II-III training course
Canoe Canal Sömmerda	Germany (Thuringia)	500m, height difference 3m	channel		Created in 1974 as a training and competition track.