Rhine water levels 2023 and similar topics

[notamermaid]

Update: the bomb has been defused successfully. Everything went smoothly and faster than expected.

 

https://www.swr.de/swraktuell/rheinland-pfalz/koblenz/fliegerbombe-bei-koblenz-urbar-entschaerfung-100.html

 

Hopefully we can return to business as usual, with river traffic running as it constantly does and for river cruising pleasant water levels. Till the next bomb is (inevitably at some point in the not too distant future) found...

 

notamermaid

 

[notamermaid]

No news is good news, they say and that is certainly true here for the river levels of the Rhine. All good, most debris from the thunderstorm has been cleared, public transport is (close to) normal again and we are enjoying a perfect warm late summer day.

 

Good news and hopefully a happy ending to a - dare I say - drama with soap opera is coming from the realm of excursion boats. You may recall that I mentioned the sinking of the "Carmen Sylva" in spring and her recent auction when she went finally received a new owner that resides in Andernach. It appears that she will be privately renovated and used. With her in Brohl harbour and more or less unharmed by the accident is the smaller excursion boat "Schloss Engers". Both where in temporary ownership by a bank after the insolvency of the owner(s). A few days ago it was the smaller boat's turn to find a new owner in an auction. The successful bid came from a company so we can assume that the "Schloss Engers" will join that fleet. For 145,000 euros the vessel was sold to a passenger shipping company operating around Würzburg. While the company has not been named, the name Henneberger in Miltenberg has been passed around on the internet. Which means the excursion boat will leave her home Neuwied, her temporary abode Brohl harbour and move to the Main.

 

Oh, and the autumn edition of "Rhine in Flames" happened on Saturday around Oberwesel. Here are some nice photos courtesy of Binnenschifferforum: https://www.binnenschifferforum.de/showthread.php?115829-Rhein-in-Flammen-in-Oberwesel-am-09-09-2023

 

Oberwesel is one of my favourite places in the Upper Middle Rhine valley. The town wall has a walkway: https://oberwesel.de/feratel/?id=6b5fad7e-bc0c-4402-8059-7fc2489d9b4c&t=poi

 

notamermaid

 

 

 

 

 

[notamermaid]

For Kaub gauge the end of the month is coming into view in the long(ish) term forecast (14 days). As opposed to the Danube the level of the Rhine is doing okay for river cruise ships. I would call it a perfectly expected situation for autumn, i.e. standard low - and if I may add, a bit higher than I thought it would be at this time of year. The figure right now is 135cm. So looking ahead we see a drop in the level due to no rain and warm temperatures. The lowest figure is forecast for Wednesday but the level should get no lower than 100cm (range is 108cm to 120cm approx.) After that we are likely to see a rise and if we trust in the computer modelling the level of the Rhine at Kaub till the end of the month should be well above 100cm.

 

With the computer modelling being adjusted almost every day, we will look at this again of course.

 

Yesterday the event "Rhine in Flames" took place at St. Goar. It was the last one for this year, the new dates are already on the website: https://www.rhein-in-flammen.com/

 

September into October - wine festivals and harvest celebrations as well as annual markets (Jahrmarkt) all around! Perhaps you will get the chance to join the locals for a few hours on your cruise.

 

notamermaid

 

[Canal archive]

Many moons ago on a land trip with our friends, he having been an air vice Marshall’s driver at the end of WW2 in Vienna, we toured all his remembered sights then took the super Vienna transport out of the city and just by chance happened on a smallish towns wine festival. An absolutely super time was had by all many new friends made and how we got back to Vienna is a mystery to this day.

[notamermaid]

It can be so much fun to stumble upon a local festival. Yesterday I deliberately went to a village fete though. Good to see, it was really traditional (apart from 21st century music from loud speakers). I was only there in the afternoon but judging from the crowd and the young couples that were the centre of attention (which is traditional) the evening was likely to be "feucht-fröhlich". Which means a happy event with laughter and quite a bit of beverage of the intoxicating kind...

 

Intoxicating - completely forgot to mention in this thread that it is time for Weinbergspfirsiche again. Those are the peaches that originally grew among the vines. They are sometimes now specially cultivated on their own in orchards.I really like the liqueur made from them. Here is a page from a merchant in the Neuwied Basin (North of Koblenz) with explanation and photos:

https://www.graeb.com/en/range/peaches-nectarines/maturity-table/roter-weinbergpfirsich-mosel/

 

If you are in or near Koblenz or on the Moselle look or ask for "Weinbergspfirsichlikör".

 

notamermaid

 

[rosepetalsbeck]

Oh you are so right!  We went to Europe for our first time middle of June to late June to cruise the Rhine and everywhere we went was a surprise festival they were having we didn't know about!  It was so fun and back in the states I would normally not enjoy that type of thing much, super crowded streets, loud music, loud drinking people etc but over there it was a wonderful surprise and we hung out for hours at a few of them!  Lucerne had a huge festival going on in old town, as did Lake Como, Milan had some huge outdoor concert right next to the Duomo, it was just amazing.  Didn't plan to be at any of them but sure enjoyed it and now when we plan to go back I'm kinda looking to see if I can find any LOL.   We ended up going back to Lucerne after our cruise to spend a couple nights and it was such a different experience because the festival was only 2 days so it was over and thousands of less people around the Chapel bridge area made it for a totally different (but still amazing) time, just different.   One of the things I enjoyed the most that totally surprised me was how much I loved to walk around after a day of excursions in old town of some quaint village/town and just sit and soak up the culture all around me.  I'd always read to try not to fit too many places into your vacation because you don't have time to truely FEEL the environment, culture of a place and that was some of the best advice I heard actually.  Just going and seeing top attractions was wonderful but the best part for me was just wondering around with no destination, sitting at a cafe and just watching, listening to all the sights, sounds, smells, etc.  Best vaca ever.  Thanks for all your great info on rivers, we are going to cruise the Danube next Aug/Sept so will keep reading your blogs 🙂

Edited September 19, 2023 by rosepetalsbeck

[notamermaid]

Quick look at Kaub gauge. Yes, lowest figure still forecast for tomorrow (118cm), after that a rise to really pleasant levels. Should be good till the end of the month. No figure below 110cm appears in the probability chart.

 

notamermaid

 

 

 

[notamermaid]

Over in the Moselle thread the conversation moved to the stone industry in the Eifel region which borders on the Rhine and Moselle. The stones were shipped via the river(s). All cargo has to get onto the boat and to literally lighten the load but also to speed things up first swimming cranes were used and then stationary ones built. So, as a change to all those castles and palaces you can do some crane spotting while sailing.

 

There are some old ones left apart from the modern steel constructions and they are industrial heritage of the long tradition of the Rhine as a mode of transport. They have protected status usually.

 

To start, here is the one that I mentioned in the Moselle thread. The Alter Krahnen Andernach (the old German spelling with h) loaded millstones onto ships: https://www.andernach-tourismus.de/en/andernach/places-of-interest/old-crane

 

There are some on other rivers of course - Trier has got an old one still, so has Würzburg.

 

Here is a history fact that may not be so well known. According to (German) Wikipedia the cranes as we find them along the rivers today are considered an invention of the Middle Ages. Until fairly recently in history, around the Mediterranean habours stuck to the more labour intensive loading and unloading via ramps.

 

One crane you may not recognize as such - it is hiding its old function - is the Pegelhaus at Koblenz. The name means it is the house with the gauge for the river level and it still shows the level on the blue clock. Check out the old flood marks when you are there: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pegelhaus_(Koblenz)

 

More to follow.

 

notamermaid

 

[notamermaid]

We are having some rather windy weather. It has not been confirmed yet, but it is believed that a tornado hit a small village in the Southern Eifel region. I looked at the sky during my late shopping trip decided to hurry up. It was quite dark and menacing. Made it home in good time. Radar image:

 

This means the river will rise - as the forecast suggests - and I am afraid we are firmly headed for autumn now. Not all regions of the Rhine valley will get to 20 Celsius tomorrow. The night into Saturday could see some areas going down into single digits. Autumn mists are not far away.

 

notamermaid

 

[notamermaid]

Back to cranes. Further upstream, just outside the Rhine Gorge, is the town of Bingen opposite Rüdesheim. There you can find the oldest crane between Mainz and Cologne standing on land and serving the Rhine ships. The foundations date back to1487 but the wooden construction you see today is from 1787 with much restoration as it had been damaged during WWII. The crane is actually functioning and is operated for tourists, demonstrating how the mechanism of the tread wheels works. Here is a video (you do not need to watch all of it to get the idea) that shows it in operation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mjsmfzbCFj4

 

 

notamermaid

 

[notamermaid]

More out of curiosity than necessity (we know the Rhine is doing fine) here is a quick look at Kaub gauge.The figure now is 139cm, forecast for tomorrow is stable with perhaps an added centimetre or two. After that we will see a decline in figures - splendid warm and sunny weather is the reason - with the figures staying above 100cm for the rest of the month. First week in October may well see the 100cm being reached but for now no problem in sight. We will leave it at that and review this in a few days time.

 

notamermaid

 

[moonriver54]

@notamermaid  We love reading your posts!  It's been quite educational...like having a local representative present to respond to questions.  Greatly appreciated!

 

My wife and I are leaving for Zurich tomorrow and will take the train to Basel upon arrival Thursday morning.  We're boarding the Avalon Vista on Saturday, 30 September for a week-long river cruise north to Amsterdam, arriving there on 07 October.  The weather is looking very nice from what we can tell.  Given your Rhine water-level expertise, do you foresee any water level issues between Basel and Amsterdam?

 

Thank You,

Jim

Edited September 26, 2023 by moonriver54

[notamermaid]

My pleasure, moonriver54.

 

3 hours ago, moonriver54 said:

Given your Rhine water-level expertise, do you foresee any water level issues between Basel and Amsterdam?

As I indicated yesterday, things are looking good along the Rhine. Kaub gauge area, for us here meaning from just before Rüdesheim to just before Lahnstein near Koblenz, is the only area where we may see low levels that are of significance at this specific time. But we are not near such a situation just that the river is losing water as it is not replenished fast enough by rain in the upper reaches and by Lake Constance. Having said that, the recent rain has helped all over - also Lake Constance - and we are seeing the effect at Kaub since Saturday. Not much but enough to keep us going, that is ensuring the level stays half decent for commercial shipping and pleasant for river cruise ships. 140cm is the level at Kaub right now, 130cm is forecast for Thursday, the probability chart now takes the level down to 100cm on 3rd October with the potential for lower on the 4th. Which would put you in the Rhine Gorge when the level is almost at its lowest before a rise may happen. So overall, not looking bad but there is from today's perspective a minimal risk of "adjusted sailing times" which is all the responsibility of your captain and I will leave it at that.

 

As for the other parts of the Rhine - just to explain - they are either controlled by locks or deeper than the Rheingau area (between Mainz and Rüdesheim/Bingen) and the Rhine Gorge.

 

I know that those sailing the river may frown at my not perfectly accurate geography but I wanted to keep it simple with familiar places just to explain the overall situation.

 

Somewhere hidden in my bookmarks is a profile of the river's depths. I am off to the virtual library to try and find it, could take some time.

 

notamermaid

 

[notamermaid]

Okay, I am back from the library. Here it is from one of the pages on the website elwis.de:

 

As you read from left to right you read the depth of the navigation channel in the downstream direction. Locks up to Iffezheim, free flowing after that. Depth of navigation channel from kilometres 508 to 557 is 1.9m, reference point is Kaub at a level of 77cm. Kaub is at km 546.3. The river itself has a large range of depths, from obvious shallows around islands and rock formations and notorious places where gravel collects to deep ravines that can easily "swallow" ships - two or three on top of each other. Yes, the deepest ravine on the navigable Rhine is at the famous Lorelei rock - 25m.

 

notamermaid

 

[moonriver54]

14 minutes ago, notamermaid said:

Okay, I am back from the library. Here it is from one of the pages on the website elwis.de:

 

As you read from left to right you read the depth of the navigation channel in the downstream direction. Locks up to Iffezheim, free flowing after that. Depth of navigation channel from kilometres 508 to 557 is 1.9m, reference point is Kaub at a level of 77cm. Kaub is at km 546.3. The river itself has a large range of depths, from obvious shallows around islands and rock formations and notorious places where gravel collects to deep ravines that can easily "swallow" ships - two or three on top of each other. Yes, the deepest ravine on the navigable Rhine is at the famous Lorelei rock - 25m.

 

notamermaid

 

Wow...thank you SO much for your very thorough responses above.  We truly appreciate your help!  We had no ideas the water levels varied so widely.  All very fascinating for us!  We noticed the Danube had Km markers placed along the river's shoreline between Vilshofen and Budapest.  Does the Rhine have similar Km markers?  Can you recommend a link where the various locks are discussed on the Rhine between Basel and Amsterdam?  Many thanks again!

 

Jim

[notamermaid]

Yes, kilometre markers kind of all the way, i.e. from Lake Constance. This looks to be an interesting website in English: http://rhine.riverama.com/rhine-km.php

It mentions inaccuracies. That is correct. Here is one - the famous "kurzer Kilometer" at the beginning of the Rhine Gorge: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Kurzer_Kilometer.jpg

 

42 minutes ago, moonriver54 said:

Can you recommend a link where the various locks are discussed on the Rhine between Basel and Amsterdam?

This Wikipedia page has the list of locks (Schleusen): https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rheinschifffahrt

Various locks have their own pages on Wikipedia or elsewhere, sometimes also in English.

 

Short video of Iffezheim lock run dry for maintenance with time lapse when in operation:

https://www.wsa-oberrhein.wsv.de/Webs/WSA/Oberrhein/DE/SharedDocs/Videos/Schleuse-Iffezheim.mp4;jsessionid=26854837173543D39F5432A7374B101E.live21323?__blob=publicationFile&v=3

 

Completely forgot: have a great cruise!

 

notamermaid

 

Edited September 26, 2023 by notamermaid

[notamermaid]

About locks, just to add. Iffezheim is not the last lock you go through on a river cruise from Basel to Amsterdam. Most of you will probably know this but it may not be obvious to some. Amsterdam is a bit of a distance from the Rhine. The city is connected to the river system by the Amsterdam Rhine Canal. The Canal is 72km long and has three locks. This is where it is: https://www.rijkswaterstaat.nl/water/vaarwegenoverzicht/amsterdam-rijnkanaal

 

notamermaid

 

[moonriver54]

4 hours ago, notamermaid said:

Yes, kilometre markers kind of all the way, i.e. from Lake Constance. This looks to be an interesting website in English: http://rhine.riverama.com/rhine-km.php

It mentions inaccuracies. That is correct. Here is one - the famous "kurzer Kilometer" at the beginning of the Rhine Gorge: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Kurzer_Kilometer.jpg

 

This Wikipedia page has the list of locks (Schleusen): https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rheinschifffahrt

Various locks have their own pages on Wikipedia or elsewhere, sometimes also in English.

 

Short video of Iffezheim lock run dry for maintenance with time lapse when in operation:

https://www.wsa-oberrhein.wsv.de/Webs/WSA/Oberrhein/DE/SharedDocs/Videos/Schleuse-Iffezheim.mp4;jsessionid=26854837173543D39F5432A7374B101E.live21323?__blob=publicationFile&v=3

 

Completely forgot: have a great cruise!

 

notamermaid

 

Thank you SO much again.  You're very kind!  We will report on our adventure!

[Canal archive]

Notamermaid I’m now envisioning you wearing that essential researchers hat that all archivists have close to hand. Researching is a bug you catch it and it’s then really difficult to get rid off. Thank you for all of your fascinating finds.

[notamermaid]

3 hours ago, Canal archive said:

Thank you for all of your fascinating finds.

My pleasure. Thank you for your kind words.

 

Have had that bug since I was sixteen I think but have done much more research in the last fifteen years due to working  in tourism and private projects. My favourite room in palaces? The library!

 

Before I get back to cranes. From what past passengers have written river cruise companies give out good maps on the ships, especially of the castles in the Rhine Gorge. They are probably enough but if one would like the perhaps almost iconic and standard tourist map of the course of the Rhine it is this one: https://www.rahmel-verlag.de/de/staedte_regionen/produkte_details.php?prod_id=42

"Available from all good souvenir shops". It seriously is the map to offer tourists in the towns along the river and you can get it online of course, probably even in America.

And if you want the "whole" river it is this map: https://www.rahmel-verlag.de/de/produkte/produkte_details.php?prod_id=43

 

notamermaid

 

 

 

[notamermaid]

A quick look at Kaub. 131cm. The forecast suggests a tiny rise. The probability chart differs a little from this, we see the two computer models not fully agreeing. However, the chart still puts the 100cm on 3rd October with the level most likely dropping on the 4th - and the 5th lower still. I am treating this with a pinch of salt at the moment. But a steady decline does look certain.

 

Okay, I think we will look at this again some time at the weekend and go back to the topic of cranes.

 

notamermaid

 

Edited September 28, 2023 by notamermaid

[Canal archive]

 

Typical Kennet & Avon Canal crane very early photograph taken mid 1800s. This particular one is no longer there but there are still several examples along the canal. The style changed from canal to canal at the whim of the canal engineer.

[Host Jazzbeau]

Here are two pictures of a very old crane in Gdansk – an entire building!

 

Gdańsk Old Town

 

Gdańsk "The Crane"

 

[notamermaid]

@Canal archive Interesting photo. The narrowboats being so small I never figured they would have used cranes. But It makes perfect sense, I mean the boats did not carry that much load, but it was sure heavy enough to speed up loading and save on manpower otherwise needed.

 

@Host Jazzbeau Thank you for the photos, I was going to mention Gdansk. Highly interesting city - I have been there - and the crane is quite a sight.

 

notamermaid

 

[Canal archive]

Notamermaid these boats are particularly speedy for their day, known as Scotch boats pulled by two horses with a postilian, five days from Bath to London, 1st and 2nd class. On short trips like Bath to Bradford on Avon they even had a string quartet.