Ecker Dam
Ecker Dam | |
---|---|
Location of Ecker Dam in Germany | |
Country | Germany |
Location | Lower Saxony/Saxony-Anhalt |
Coordinates | 51°50′08″N 10°35′15″E / 51.83556°N 10.58750°ECoordinates: 51°50′08″N 10°35′15″E / 51.83556°N 10.58750°E |
Construction began | 1939 |
Opening date | 1942 |
Dam and spillways | |
Type of dam | Gravity dam |
Impounds | Ecker |
Height | 65 m (213 ft) |
Length | 235 m (771 ft) |
Width (crest) | 2.2 m (7 ft) |
Dam volume | 168,000 m3 (5,900,000 cu ft) |
Reservoir | |
Total capacity | 13,270,000 m3 (469,000,000 cu ft) |
Catchment area | 19 km2 (7 sq mi) |
Surface area | 68 ha (1 km2) |
Power station | |
Type | Conventional |
Installed capacity | 270 KW |
The Ecker Dam (German: Eckertalsperre) is a dam near Bad Harzburg in the Harz mountains of Germany that went into service in 1942. It impounds primarily the waters of the river Ecker.
Operation
The dam is operated by the Harzwasserwerke. It is used for the supply of drinking water, flood protection, raising water levels during times of low rainfall and electricity generation through hydropower. Its power generation capacity is 270 kW. The Ecker Dam has an average discharge of 16 million m³ per year.
Construction
The facility comprises a gravity dam made of concrete. For the first time in Germany coarse-grained concrete (Rüttelgrobbeton) with an aggregate of up to 300 mm grain size was used. The reservoir uses a section of the valley which, below a prominent trough end, was dug out in the shape of a basin by an ice age glacier.
Purpose
The reservoir provides drinking water to the cities of Brunswick and Wolfsburg.
History
At the time of the division of Germany the Inner German Border ran straight through the site; only about two-thirds of the dam being accessible from the west. The rest of the dam crest was separated from the west by a wall and barbed wire.
Tourism
The Ecker Dam is checkpoint no. 1 in the Harzer Wandernadel hiking trail network.
Gallery
- Ecker Reservoir
- Dam wall
- Former GDR border post on the dam crest
See also
Notes
- Peter Franke; Wolfgang Frey (1987) (in German), Talsperren in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland, Berlin: Systemdruck, ISBN 3-926520-00-0
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Eckertalsperre. |
- Harzwasserwerke.de with a link to current dam data
- Tourist information on the Ecker Dam
- Historic photograph of the Ecker Dam in 1978