Upper Rhine

As the Upper Rhine is now geographically designated a 350 -kilometer section of the Rhine between Basel and Bingen; orographic it belongs to the middle reaches of the river. Neighbors are adjacent to the Alsace region of France, the southwest German states of Baden -Württemberg, Rhineland -Palatinate and Hesse, as well as in the city of Basel, Switzerland also.

Geology

Before around 35 million years ago between today's Basel and the Hessian Depression a good 300 km long and 50 km wide fault zone, the Upper Rhine Graben. This was due to tensile stresses in the Earth's crust and mantle, which were accompanied by the wrinkling of the Alps. The moat was partly replenished by sedimentation of the Rhine and its tributaries. The so-called grave shoulders rose at the edges out, Black Forest and Odenwald in the east, the Vosges and the Palatinate Forest in the west. As a result of lowering also called the Aare Sundgau power to the north was diverted to the Ur -Rhine; until the beginning of the Pleistocene some 2.6 million years ago this was further flowed from today's Basel westward to the valley of the rivers Saône and Rhône.

Today, the Basel Rhine knee marks ( Middle Bridge at river kilometer 166.6; 1,037 m³ / s) the transition from the high to the Upper Rhine with change in the main flow direction to the north and the landscape change from the relatively small chambered high Rhenish cuesta to the wide rift zone of the Upper Rhine Graben. The two strongest tributaries enter from the right, the Neckar (145 m³ / s) in Mannheim and Mainz opposite the Main ( 225 m³ / s). From left open at the Strasbourg Ill (54 m³ / s) and in the northwest corner of the Upper Rhine Graben, near Bingen, the Nahe (30 m³ / s). There, at river kilometer 529.1 ( 1,610 m³ / s), begins with the entry of the Rhine in the central uplands of the Middle Rhine (for further information see: River system of the Rhine ).

Straightening

As of 1685 the Upper Rhine were partially relocated and parts of the Alsace floodplain drained to gain agricultural land under Louis XIV. The ostwärtigen misalignments up to 1.5 km led to loss of land in Baden until 1850. Around 1790, large parts of the floodplain have been deforested for the recovery of farmland, fields and grassland. As of 1817, the straightening of the Rhine in the upper part of the highly branched and relatively slow meandering river below current was led by Johann Gottfried Tulla in the course stretched to one and much faster flowing redesigned, which is flanked by embankments. The waterway and of the running of the Upper Rhine was thereby reduced by 81 km. As a remnant of the original river and the floodplain Altrheinarme or so-called casting remained.

Sewer construction and congestion control

North of Basel, the main amount of water of the Rhine is the running on the French side of the Rhine side channel fed ( Grand Canal d' Alsace). He takes the boat traffic and passes four hydroelectric power plants. The old, already straightened run, the so-called residual Rhine, follows the state line. It flows at Breisach back together with the Rhine side channel. Between Breisach and Iffezheim its water level is regulated by six other dams with their own, to the left branching flow loop ( called loop solution). All dams consist of two locks and a hydroelectric plant. Suits you depending on another defense in the old right Rhine bed. Over a distance of 170 km to 132 m height difference to be overcome.

Between Basel and Breisach the rest Rhine 52-115 m³ / s will ( in accordance with the concession of the Rhine power plant Kembs ). Only at high water flows more water (up to 4500 m³ / s) than in the shipping channel whose capacity is limited to about 1400 m³ / s.

The expansion of the Upper Rhine goes back to the Treaty of Versailles, with the 1919 France received the right in the common boundary line between Basel and Neuburgweier / Lauterbourg water to remove for the purpose of hydropower.

The Oberrheinkorrektion (1817-1876), the construction of the Rhine side channel (1928-1959) and the congestion control (1961-1977) lowered the groundwater level from up to 16 m and had thereby powerfully transformative on flora and fauna. The Rhine Moreover, it lacks because of the barrages at boulder. Since the power of erosion below the Iffezheim is still present, since 1978, a gravel -sand mixture with a mean grain diameter of about 20 mm, as it corresponds to the local sediment transport capacity, dumped, on average 173,000 cubic meters per year. For this purpose, two motorized barges and a high-precision survey vessel can be used. Thus, a larger bed erosion is countered.

On the left side of the Rhine is called the Ried landscape and consists of the Petit and Grand Ried.

Conservation

Of particular importance for nature conservation, the numerous wetlands in the floodplain of the Upper Rhine. Here you will find many natural, landscape and bird sanctuaries. Between Weil am Rhein and Karlsruhe 25 117 ha in Germany and 22,413 ha in France are protected under the Ramsar Convention since 2008 to 190 kilometers in length. The largest nature reserve Hesse, Kühkopf - Knoblochsaue, is also on the Upper Rhine as the Taubergiessen, one of the largest protected areas in Baden- Württemberg. More Ramsar sites are located on the so-called island of the Rhine between Mainz and Bingen.

In the floodplains of the Upper Rhine coordinated Mosquito control is performed.

Integrated Rhine Programme ( IRP)

The Upper Rhine plays a key role in flood control on the center and the Lower Rhine. Through the expansion of the Upper Rhine flood flows from the Alps today much faster towards the middle Rhine from than in the past. Thus, the risk is increased that overlap any flood peaks of the Neckar, Main and Mosel with the Upper Rhine, rather than sequentially to expire. When removing the upper Rhine by Johann Gottfried Tulla, Max Honsell and the French State flood plains have been lost to the extent of about 123 km ². In the so-called Integrated Rhine Programme neighboring states or countries of France, Baden- Württemberg and Rhineland -Palatinate are trying to at least partially restore downstream of Iffezheim by means of retention areas for about 1.2 billion euros to about 2028 existing before the development of the Upper Rhine flood retention areas.

The objective is hereby limiting the flood crest at an occurring on average every 200 years flood:

• For the range of Iffezheim to the Neckar mouth to an outflow of 5000 m³ / s at the level Maxau (today: 5700 m³ / s),
• For the area below the Neckar mouth to an outflow of 6000 m³ / s at the level Worms (today: 6800 m³ / s).

To this end, the following measures are planned:

• By France: Special operation of the Rhine power plants and construction of the two polder Erstein and mildew
• By Baden- Württemberg: Construction of approximately 13 polders
• By Rhineland -Palatinate: construction of polders and dike relocations

Already implemented (as of 2013) are:

• Special operation of Rheinkraftwerke
• Polder Polder Erstein and Moder
• Polder Altenheim 1 and 2 with weir Kehl / Strasbourg
• Söllingen / Greffern
• Polder Daxlander Au
• Polder Wörth / Jockgrim
• Polder Mechtersheim
• Polder Flotzgrün
• Polder Kollerinsel
• Polder Worms Middle - Busch
• Polder soil home / Laubenheim
• Ingelheim Polder

With special mode it is meant that the Rheinkraftwerke be switched off when an outflow of more than 4000 m³ / s, so that the water to no longer by the artificial river bed of the Rhine canal and locks and power plant channels between Breisach and Strasbourg, but over the weirs in (residual) Rhine sent. To demonstrate the effectiveness of the planned flood protection measures are carried out by the State Institute for the Environment, Nature Protection and Measurements Baden- Württemberg using the mathematical " synoptic flood routing model " forecast calculations. The evaluation of the calculations and the evaluation of the calculation results carried out on the basis of the requirements and methods of international flood Study Commission for the Rhine in international working groups and sub-working groups (WG maneuvers, UAG UAG effectiveness and Statistics) of the Permanent Commission. Through the realization of the planned flood retention measures in the Upper Rhine the occurrence of a 200 - year flood between Iffezheim and Bingen can prevent an economic loss of around 6.2 billion euros.

In addition, associated with the IRP an ecological enhancement of the affected areas. With the construction of polders and retention areas, the former floodplain vegetation of softwood and hardwood floodplain is restored.

Tri-national metropolitan region of the Upper Rhine

The tri-national metropolitan area of ​​the Upper Rhine is the future concept of the political-administrative cooperation area of the Upper Rhine Conference. The name differs from the natural environment concept: The co-operation area does not include the north of the Central Upper Rhine region and the southern Palatinate lying areas of the Upper Rhine Graben, since they do not belong to the border region. On the other hand, belong to this mandate area in southern parts of the Rhine.