Ill (Austria)

Ill at Feldkirch- Gisingen

The right bank Ill ( in typewriter font: Ill ) is 72 km long and is located entirely in the Austrian province of Vorarlberg. With an average water flow of 65.5 m³ / s it is the largest tributary of the Alpine Rhine.

Origin of the name

The name of the Ill is of Celtic origin. He comes from the word Ilara for " hurry ". The first mention was made in 1377 as Yll.

Source and course

Headwaters of the River Ill, the Alps are in the Silvretta group. It lies at the foot of Dreiländerspitze ( 3197 m), Piz Buin ( 3312m ) and Silvrettahorn ( 3244 m) in the Ochsental at an altitude of about 2240 m above sea level. A. Three glaciers feed the young with their drains Ill: Vermuntgletscher, Ochsentaler glaciers and snow bells glacier. As Ill - origin of the outflow of Ochsentaler glacier is called. Then the Ill flows through the Ochsental and is dammed to Silvretta reservoir.

In the further course it flows through the Montafon and the Walgau and opens below Feldkirch between Nofels ( Matschels ) and Meiningen at an altitude of 429 meters at the newly redesigned so-called Illspitz into the Rhine.

Tributaries

First tributary is the Klostertalbach which opens out from the Kloster, fed by Klostertaler glaciers in the Silvretta reservoir. A smaller tributary, but still important, is the Balbierbach in Gortipohl. The longest tributary (24 km ) is the Litz which opens in Schruns in the Ill.

At larger tributaries of the River Ill follow in Bludenz Alfenz, the Alvierbach and the left which opens Schesa ( Schesatobel ), a torrent which threatens the settlement area and the roads in the area of Bludenz and brush for about 200 years. Other major tributaries are the Alvier, the Lutz between Nenzing and Bludenz, the Meng and Samina to Frastanz.

Hydropower plants

Vorarlberg Illwerke

→ Main article: Vorarlberg AG Illwerke

In the catchment area of the river there are several dams and pumped storage power plants in Vorarlberg Illwerke AG, the peak current for the most part - and for export - supply: Vermunt, Kops, Silvrettasee, Luenersee, Latschau.

The Walgaukraftwerk in Nenzing was commissioned in 1984. It uses the gradient difference along the Ill to Latschau or Tschagguns.

Stadtwerke Feldkirch

The river plant Hochwuhr above the Ganahl - site in Feldkirch Feldkirch is operated by the municipal utilities.

Miscellaneous

• In Vienna Floridsdorf there since 1953, the Illgasse.
• Another tributary of the Rhine with the name Ill there in Alsace. Although he has three times the length of the Vorarlberg Ill, but does less water.

Pictures

Illspitz in Feldkirch

Illspitz in Feldkirch, 2008, with the new bridge

Listed bridge between Bludenz and brush

Confluence with the Silvretta reservoir