Nußdorf weir and lock
Encyclopedia
The Nußdorf weir and lock are works of hydraulic engineering
located in the Viennese
suburb of Nußdorf
at the point where the Donaukanal
leaves the Danube
. The weir and lock were built following the adoption of a new law in July 1892, which also authorised the construction of the Wiener Stadtbahn
and the transformation of the Donaukanal into a winter harbour.
The weir
and lock
in Nußdorf are commonly confused with one another, although they are actually two separate constructions built to serve the same purpose.
, Döbling
, they actually fall within the jurisdiction of the 20th district, Brigittenau
.
. The Schwimmtor remained in service until World War I
and was finally scrapped in 1945.
and directly before the harbour in Freudenau.
The construction of the weir and lock was necessary in order to protect the new developments on the canal (the metropolitan railway, the tributary canals and later the harbour and ships) from floods and ice, but also in order to maintain sufficient water in the canal so that ships could pass. Wilhelm von Engerth’s Schwimmtor provided satisfactory protection from floating ice, but it only gave a very limited degree of control over the amount of water in the canal. In particular because of the need to protect the tributary canals built along the Donaukanal, it was essential that the level of water in the canal did not rise by more than 80 centimetres.
was employed by the transport commission for the project; the architectural plans for the weir and the Schemerlbrücke, the adjoining buildings and (possibly) the lock are the work of Sigmund Taussig. Because of the site’s highly visible location – at the point at which the Donaukanal leads away from the Danube towards the centre of Vienna – Otto Wagner considered the weir (technically a needle dam
but also a bridge weir) as the gate to the city and thus designed it to be particularly impressive. It features imposing columns topped with lions made of bronze. These lions are the work of Rudolf Weyr and were later the model for the logo of Gräf & Stift
, an Austrian automobile producer.
The weir passed its first test in 1899, when the land on the Donaukanal was successfully protected from flooding.
The needle dam was replaced with a modern segment weir during improvements carried out on Vienna’s defenses against flooding between 1971 and 1975. The new weir featured barriers that could be lowered to the bottom of the canal. Between 2004 and 2005, the Nußdorf power station was built downstream of the weir and lock without any visible changes to the historical appearance of the area. The power station’s 12 turbine
s produce around 28 gigawatt hours per year and thus provide electricity for approximately 10,000 households.
The bridge is referred to using a range of variations of its name:
The truss bridge was built between 1894 and 1898. Its span measures 49 metres, arching over both the 40-metre wide canal and the 9-metre wide towpath
. The construction of the bridge was made necessary for structural reasons; the three main bearing walls and the strong horizontal bar support both the weight of the bridge and the pressure created by the damming of the water in the canal (the weir is also referred to as a bridge weir as a result). The Schemmerlbrücke was however also needed for the weir machinery.
In April 1945, the Schemmerlbrücke, along with the other bridges over the Donaukanal, was intentionally rendered unusable. In 1947, a wooden structure was built which made it possible for pedestrians to cross the canal. Between 1953 and 1955, the bridge was repaired and in 1978 it was thoroughly restored.
, and why it was renovated between 1964 and 1966. Presumably, it was too small for modern ships and its technical features needed updating. On 25 November 1966, the City of Vienna announced that the Stadtrat Kurt Heller had officially opened the fully mechanised lock.
In order to ensure that sufficient water was available for the lock even when the surrounding canals are blocked with ice, a tributary canal was also built.
style. The building’s roof features a platform that served as an observation post.
Hydraulic engineering
This article is about civil engineering. For the mechanical engineering discipline see Hydraulic machineryHydraulic engineering as a sub-discipline of civil engineering is concerned with the flow and conveyance of fluids, principally water and sewage. One feature of these systems is the extensive...
located in the Viennese
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
suburb of Nußdorf
Nußdorf, Vienna
Nußdorf was a separate municipality until 1892 and is today a suburb of Vienna in the 19th district of Döbling.- Location :Nußdorf lies on both banks of the Nußbach , where the brook meets the Danube Canal...
at the point where the Donaukanal
Donaukanal
The Donaukanal is a former arm of the river Danube, now regulated as a water channel , within the city of Vienna, Austria...
leaves the Danube
Danube
The Danube is a river in the Central Europe and the Europe's second longest river after the Volga. It is classified as an international waterway....
. The weir and lock were built following the adoption of a new law in July 1892, which also authorised the construction of the Wiener Stadtbahn
Wiener Stadtbahn
The Wiener Stadtbahn was a public transportation system operated under this name from 1898 to 1989. Today, the Vienna U-Bahn lines U4 and U6 and the Vienna S-Bahn run on its former lines....
and the transformation of the Donaukanal into a winter harbour.
The weir
Weir
A weir is a small overflow dam used to alter the flow characteristics of a river or stream. In most cases weirs take the form of a barrier across the river that causes water to pool behind the structure , but allows water to flow over the top...
and lock
Lock (water transport)
A lock is a device for raising and lowering boats between stretches of water of different levels on river and canal waterways. The distinguishing feature of a lock is a fixed chamber in which the water level can be varied; whereas in a caisson lock, a boat lift, or on a canal inclined plane, it is...
in Nußdorf are commonly confused with one another, although they are actually two separate constructions built to serve the same purpose.
Location
The weir and lock are located behind the Nußdorf station of the Emperor Franz Joseph Railway. Although they are named after a suburb in the 19th district of ViennaDistricts of Vienna
The districts of Vienna are 23 named city sections of Vienna, Austria, which are also numbered for easy reference. For centuries, district boundaries have changed...
, Döbling
Döbling
Döbling is the 19th District in the city of Vienna, Austria . It is located on the north end from the central districts, north of the districts Alsergrund and Währing...
, they actually fall within the jurisdiction of the 20th district, Brigittenau
Brigittenau
Brigittenau is the 20th District of Vienna . It is located north of the central districts, north of Leopoldstadt on the same island area between the Danube and the Danube Canal...
.
Earlier constructions
Before the construction of the weir and lock in Nußdorf, the Donaukanal was protected from floating ice and to a large extent also from flooding by the Wilhelm von Engerth’s floating barrier, the SchwimmtorSchwimmtor
The Schwimmtor , also known as the Sperrschiff , was a floating barrier designed to protect the areas along the Donaukanal in Vienna from flooding and ice...
. The Schwimmtor remained in service until World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
and was finally scrapped in 1945.
The weir and lock in Nußdorf
The weir and lock in Nußdorf and the Kaiserbadwehr (another weir) were the only hydraulic engineering works that were ever realised as part of the plan to create a harbour in the Donaukanal. Two further weir and lock arrangements had been envisaged near the OstbahnbrückeOstbahnbrücke
The Ostbahnbrücke is a railway bridge over the Donaukanal in Vienna. It unites the districts of Simmering and Leopoldstadt.The Ostbahnbrücke is located near the power station in Simmering and the Gasometer.- History :...
and directly before the harbour in Freudenau.
The construction of the weir and lock was necessary in order to protect the new developments on the canal (the metropolitan railway, the tributary canals and later the harbour and ships) from floods and ice, but also in order to maintain sufficient water in the canal so that ships could pass. Wilhelm von Engerth’s Schwimmtor provided satisfactory protection from floating ice, but it only gave a very limited degree of control over the amount of water in the canal. In particular because of the need to protect the tributary canals built along the Donaukanal, it was essential that the level of water in the canal did not rise by more than 80 centimetres.
Nußdorf weir
The Nußdorf weir was built between August 1894 and 1899. The walls were finished in 1897 and the steel construction was mounted by August 1898. The administration building and the chain magazine followed in 1899. Otto WagnerOtto Wagner
Otto Koloman Wagner was an Austrian architect and urban planner, known for his lasting impact on the appearance of his home town Vienna, to which he contributed many landmarks.-Life:...
was employed by the transport commission for the project; the architectural plans for the weir and the Schemerlbrücke, the adjoining buildings and (possibly) the lock are the work of Sigmund Taussig. Because of the site’s highly visible location – at the point at which the Donaukanal leads away from the Danube towards the centre of Vienna – Otto Wagner considered the weir (technically a needle dam
Needle dam
A needle dam is a weir designed to maintain the level or flow of a river through the use of thin "needles" of wood. The needles are leaned against a solid frame and are not intended to be water-tight...
but also a bridge weir) as the gate to the city and thus designed it to be particularly impressive. It features imposing columns topped with lions made of bronze. These lions are the work of Rudolf Weyr and were later the model for the logo of Gräf & Stift
Gräf & Stift
Gräf & Stift was an Austrian manufacturer of automobiles, trucks, buses and trolleybuses, from 1902 until 2001, latterly as a subsidiary of MAN. Founded in 1902 by the brothers Franz, Heinrich and Karl Gräf, and the investor, Wilhelm Stift...
, an Austrian automobile producer.
The weir passed its first test in 1899, when the land on the Donaukanal was successfully protected from flooding.
The needle dam was replaced with a modern segment weir during improvements carried out on Vienna’s defenses against flooding between 1971 and 1975. The new weir featured barriers that could be lowered to the bottom of the canal. Between 2004 and 2005, the Nußdorf power station was built downstream of the weir and lock without any visible changes to the historical appearance of the area. The power station’s 12 turbine
Turbine
A turbine is a rotary engine that extracts energy from a fluid flow and converts it into useful work.The simplest turbines have one moving part, a rotor assembly, which is a shaft or drum with blades attached. Moving fluid acts on the blades, or the blades react to the flow, so that they move and...
s produce around 28 gigawatt hours per year and thus provide electricity for approximately 10,000 households.
Schemerlbrücke
The Schemerlbrücke (Schemerl bridge) is named after Josef Schemerl Ritter von Leytenbach, k. k. Hofrat and Hofbauratsdirektor, who developed the first plans to regulate the Danube in 1810. His plans were not realised. He died in 1844.The bridge is referred to using a range of variations of its name:
- In the Landesgesetzblatt Nummer 34/1996 (an official publication), in which the new border between the 19th and 20th districts was laid down, reference is made to the bridge as the “Josef-von-Schemmerl-Brücke”.
- According to the “Amtliches Wiener Straßenverzeichnis – 16. aktualisierte Auflage” (the official directory of Vienna’s streets), the bridge appears as the “Schemmerlbrücke”.
- The inscription on one of the pylons refers to it as the “Schemerlbrücke”.
- Different maps of the city of Vienna name the bridge either “Josef von Schemerl-Brücke” or “Schemerlbrücke”.
- The book “Querungen. Brücken - Stadt – Wien” (Crossings. Bridges – City – Vienna) published by the administrative department of the City of Vienna with responsibility for the city’s bridges (Magistratsabteilung 29) contains a list of Vienna’s bridges which uses the name “Schemerlbrücke”. It thus seems that this is the correct name.
The truss bridge was built between 1894 and 1898. Its span measures 49 metres, arching over both the 40-metre wide canal and the 9-metre wide towpath
Towpath
A towpath is a road or trail on the bank of a river, canal, or other inland waterway. The purpose of a towpath is to allow a land vehicle, beasts of burden, or a team of human pullers to tow a boat, often a barge...
. The construction of the bridge was made necessary for structural reasons; the three main bearing walls and the strong horizontal bar support both the weight of the bridge and the pressure created by the damming of the water in the canal (the weir is also referred to as a bridge weir as a result). The Schemmerlbrücke was however also needed for the weir machinery.
In April 1945, the Schemmerlbrücke, along with the other bridges over the Donaukanal, was intentionally rendered unusable. In 1947, a wooden structure was built which made it possible for pedestrians to cross the canal. Between 1953 and 1955, the bridge was repaired and in 1978 it was thoroughly restored.
Nußdorf lock
In contrast to the Nußdorf weir, the Nußdorf lock is not very well known. Construction on the lock also began in August 1894. The chamber lock is 85 metres long and 15 metres wide, but at the same time, a canal 20 metres wide, 3.5 metres deep and with an embankment slope of 1:2 1/2 had to be built to make it possible to use the lock. This canal made it necessary to build two railway bridges for the Donauuferbahn as well as a road bridge between Nußdorf and Handelskai. It is not known for sure whether this lock was also designed by Otto Wagner, how it survived World War IIWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, and why it was renovated between 1964 and 1966. Presumably, it was too small for modern ships and its technical features needed updating. On 25 November 1966, the City of Vienna announced that the Stadtrat Kurt Heller had officially opened the fully mechanised lock.
In order to ensure that sufficient water was available for the lock even when the surrounding canals are blocked with ice, a tributary canal was also built.
Administration building
The three- to four-storey administration building that stands near the weir and lock was designed by Otto Wagner and built in secessionistVienna Secession
The Vienna Secession was formed in 1897 by a group of Austrian artists who had resigned from the Association of Austrian Artists, housed in the Vienna Künstlerhaus. This movement included painters, sculptors, and architects...
style. The building’s roof features a platform that served as an observation post.