Ecker Dam

Ecker Dam
Location of Ecker Dam in Germany
Country Germany
Location Lower Saxony/Saxony-Anhalt
Coordinates 51°50′08″N 10°35′15″E / 51.83556°N 10.58750°E / 51.83556; 10.58750Coordinates: 51°50′08″N 10°35′15″E / 51.83556°N 10.58750°E / 51.83556; 10.58750
Construction began 1939
Opening date 1942
Dam and spillways
Type of dam Gravity dam
Impounds Ecker
Height 65 m (213 ft)
Length 235 m (771 ft)
Width (crest) 2.2 m (7 ft)
Dam volume 168,000 m3 (5,900,000 cu ft)
Reservoir
Total capacity 13,270,000 m3 (469,000,000 cu ft)
Catchment area 19 km2 (7 sq mi)
Surface area 68 ha (1 km2)
Power station
Type Conventional
Installed capacity 270 KW

The Ecker Dam (German: Eckertalsperre) is a dam near Bad Harzburg in the Harz mountains of Germany that went into service in 1942. It impounds primarily the waters of the river Ecker.

Operation

The dam is operated by the Harzwasserwerke. It is used for the supply of drinking water, flood protection, raising water levels during times of low rainfall and electricity generation through hydropower. Its power generation capacity is 270 kW. The Ecker Dam has an average discharge of 16 million m³ per year.

Construction

The facility comprises a gravity dam made of concrete. For the first time in Germany coarse-grained concrete (Rüttelgrobbeton) with an aggregate of up to 300 mm grain size was used. The reservoir uses a section of the valley which, below a prominent trough end, was dug out in the shape of a basin by an ice age glacier.

Purpose

The reservoir provides drinking water to the cities of Brunswick and Wolfsburg.

History

Information board about the old border.

At the time of the division of Germany the Inner German Border ran straight through the site; only about two-thirds of the dam being accessible from the west. The rest of the dam crest was separated from the west by a wall and barbed wire.

Tourism

The Ecker Dam is checkpoint no. 1 in the Harzer Wandernadel hiking trail network.

See also

Notes

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