Re: Part IV: The Deep Level Locks & How They Conserve Water

Along the course of the Main-Danube Canal there are 16 locks with lifting heights of up to 25 metres (81 ft). The 16 locks are managed from four remote control centres which are manned day and night.

Thirteen locks are designed to conserve water, which they do by piping first the top third, and then the middle third of the lock water into side tanks during the down cycle. On the up cycle, these tanks replenish first the bottom third and then the middle third of the lock volume. The remaining top third is supplied by water from the upper level of the canal. For an animation of this operation see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhine–Main–Danube_Canal

The photo sequence above illustrates our negotiation of the Leerstetten 24.7m deep level lock. A similar sequence of photos can be found at: http://dkiel.com/danube/maindanubeoverview/maindanubeoverview.html

This link also has a 3D profile of the canal as it rises and falls over the European Divide.

 

 

 

Part III: The Aqueduct Over the Finsterbach River

The sharp eyed amongst you – and you will have to have been sharp eyed because the font size of the list of locks in the last post came out much smaller than I had anticipated – will have also seen that in addition to the 68 locks there were two aqueducts each 24.7 metres in height.  The first over the Schwarzach River and the second over the Finsterbach River. Both aqueducts are on the section of the Main-Danube Canal between the 19.5m Elbach and the first of the 24.7m Eckersmuelen locks.

The photo above was taken as we transited the second aqueduct.  See a lorry on the road 24 metres below.

That's all for this posting because the photo file size, even compressed, is about the limit for the Blog.