The lake has become a stream.

Where the water otherwise accumulates meters high, it has found a way and found a stream bed.

A bridge made of wooden planks has again come to light, which spans the former river bed of the Kinzig and which is under water when the Kinzig reservoir is flooded.

Greenery has grown on the bottom of the lake because the reservoir near Bad Soden-Salmünster has been emptied for work on the 550 meter long dam wall.

This year it is the turn of the 14 meter high dam and the technical systems to be checked every 20 years.

Jan Schiefenhoevel

Editor in the Rhein-Main-Zeitung.

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In addition, the water was gradually drained over the summer, no more than 30 centimeters per day.

A faster sinking of the level would have negative consequences for the groundwater.

First, the fish living in the lake were caught and relocated to other ponds, according to the Kinzig Water Association, which operates the dam.

A fishing company from the Baltic Sea was commissioned to do this, which fished twelve tons of fish alive.

Extensive repairs

So that the construction workers can work undisturbed during these weeks, the Kinzig is tamed a little just before the dam wall and diverted by walls made of stacked concrete blocks so that the part of the dam that is currently being worked on remains dry.

Finally, the Kinzig flows on, 500 liters flow every second, which are channeled down the valley through an opening in the wall.

The inspection applies to that part of the dam built between 1976 and 1982 that is otherwise under water.

Particular attention is paid to stability, the quality of the concrete and the nature of the joints.

According to the waste water association, the test revealed that part of the concrete outer skin had to be renewed.

With high-pressure tools and water jet systems, the concrete is removed one to two centimeters deep and a layer up to four centimeters thick is applied.

According to the association, this concrete work alone costs around one million euros.

The fact that no water is pressing against the dam at the moment is being used to replace the weir gates after 40 years.

These facilities are used to lower the water level during heavy flooding by allowing water to drain away in a controlled manner.

With the three new weir flaps, new hydraulics for their control and new sliding walls, which specify the path for the water, are installed.

That costs another 1.65 million euros.

The state is contributing 1.1 million euros, i.e. two thirds, as a grant, according to the Ministry of the Environment.

The reservoir is to be flooded again before the end of the year

The control and renewal work is expected to be completed by the end of November.

Then the reservoir is flooded again.

This should start before the end of the year, says Holger Scheffler, managing director of the water association.

How long it takes for the lake to fill up again depends on how much it will rain over the next few weeks.

In winter, the water is usually 5.50 meters high, then there are 1.2 million cubic meters of water in the basin.

The regular water level for the summer is 7.50 meters with a volume of 2.6 million cubic meters.

Depending on the water level, the lake is between 2.1 and 2.4 kilometers long.

Water from an area of ​​230 square kilometers flows together in the basin.

The Kinzigtalsperre is used for flood protection and is intended to prevent flooding in Gelnhausen or Hanau-Steinheim, for example.

If the level in the Kinzig rises, for example when its tributaries Salz and Bracht swell after heavy rain in the Vogelsberg, the water level at the dam can rise to twelve meters.

The reservoir can then hold more than twelve million cubic meters of water.

Multifunction system Kinzigtalsperre

Since its construction, the reservoir has been filled to the maximum several times during high water.

The dam cannot prevent a flood in the Kinzig, but it can “stretched it out over time”, as Scheffler explains.

This gives the towns downstream time to fend off the water masses.

In addition, the dam serves to use energy from hydropower, 300 kilowatt hours of electricity are generated there per hour.

In the future, the extraction of drinking water from the Kinzigsee is also planned, as Scheffler says.

The lake is also important for tourism and a focal point for cyclists and walkers.

When the lake fills up again next summer, day trippers can stop at Ardeas Lake World, a water playground on the side of the reservoir.

A jetty is intended for pedal boats and stand-up paddlers.

An open-air café called "Bootshaus" was set up on the lake shore last summer.

Its terrace is framed by trees.

And an elevated viewing platform offers an unobstructed view of the water surface.