Urft Dam
| Urft Dam | |
|---|---|
Aerial photograph of the Urft Dam and Reservoir;
in the foreground is the Obersee lake |
|
| Location | Kreis Euskirchen |
| Coordinates | 50°36′08″N 6°25′08″E / 50.60222°N 6.41889°ECoordinates: 50°36′08″N 6°25′08″E / 50.60222°N 6.41889°E |
| Construction began | 1900 - 1905 |
| Dam and spillways | |
| Type of dam | Gravity dam |
| Impounds | Urft |
| Height (foundation) | 58.5 |
| Height (thalweg) | 55 |
| Length | 226 |
| Elevation at crest | 324 |
| Width (crest) | 6 |
| Width (base) | 50.5 |
| Dam volume | 135000 |
| Reservoir | |
| Total capacity | 47.75 million m3 |
| Active capacity | 45.51 million m3 |
| Catchment area | 326.5 km² |
| Surface area | 2.16 km² |
| Maximum length | 12 km |
| Normal elevation | 322.5 m |
| Power station | |
| Operator(s) | Wasserverband Eifel-Rur |
| Installed capacity | 16 |
The Urft Dam (German: Urfttalsperre) is a 58.50 metre high dam in the southwestern part of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia in Germany. It was built in 1905. The dam impounds the River Urft in the district of Euskirchen to create the Urft Reservoir (Urftstausee), 2.16 km² in area. The reservoir is also called the Urftsee (Lake Urft).
The Urft Dam, which was constructed during the period 1900 to 1905, and the Urft Reservoir, which was then the biggest reservoir in Europe, have belonged since 1993 to the Eifel-Rur Water Board (Wasserverband Eifel-Rur).
The Urft barrier system that comprises the Urft Dam and Urft Reservoir is located in the Rur Eifel, a subdivision of the North Eifel region, south of the Kermeter ridge, north-northeast of the Dreiborn Plateau between Simmerath-Rurberg (in the neighbouring region of Aachen) to the west-northwest and Schleiden-Gemünd (Euskirchen district) to the east-southeast. It lies immediately above the Obersee, the main pre-basin (Vorbecken) of the Rur Reservoir, in which the waters of the Urft and Rur are impounded, and is situated within the Eifel National Park, founded in 2004, which is in turn surrounded by the Hohes Venn-Eifel Nature Park.
The Urft dam is a curved gravity dam with its convex side facing upstream and an earth embankment (an Intze Wedge) on the reservoir side that reaches to about half the height of the dam wall. It is situated around 6.8 kilometres, as the crow flies, west-northwest of Gemünd, the northern part of the town of Schleiden in Euskirchen district.
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Wikipedia