Upper Harz Ditches

The Upper Harz trenches are vertically -aligned hillside ditches that were created to force water supply of the silver mines from the 16th to the 19th century in the Upper Harz. They are an essential part of the cultural monument Upper Harz Water Regale and are thus also a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Type

The trenches are made out of the ditch and the so-called grave chest that has been heaped up from the excavation at the grave system. Often the grave chest with a dry stone wall is protected from erosion. The grave chest is mostly the same as the control path for the grave keeper and is now often a popular hiking trail Represents the grave narrowness cases is usually only 1-2 ‰ ( ie 1 to 2 millimeters per meter). The grave route here runs almost parallel to the vertical line in the terrain.

To protect against seepage grave grave chest and sole are usually sealed with turf or with clay. At the inlets ( intersection with torrents ) are so-called failures, small military buildings, located where the water flow can be regulated in a ditch. At high tide these must be " pulled" to the grave relief, that is, the boards are removed.

The hydraulic capacity of the grooves is most at 100 to 200 liters per second; when Rehberger Graben up to 600 l / s and the dam trench up to 1000 l / s

List of Oberharzer trenches

Following the Upper Harz trenches according to the system of Preussag are listed, the trenches after the power plants that could be supplied named. First, only the active, operated by the resin waterworks trenches are listed below: