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20-796: The Urft Dam, which was constructed during the period 1900 to 1905, and the Urft Reservoir, which was then the biggest reservoir in Europe, having belonged since 1993 to the Eifel-Rur Water Board ( Wasserverband Eifel-Rur ). The Urft barrier system that comprises the Urft Dam and Urft Reservoir is located in the Rur Eifel , a subdivision of the North Eifel region, south of the Kermeter ridge, north-northeast of

40-868: A Roman burgus and castellum ( Kleinkastell ), it is joined by the Wellenbach in Urft and in Nettersheim the Genfbach. Next the river runs parallel to the Roman Eifel Aqueduct , which begins at the old Gronrecht Mill ( Gronrechtsmühle ) near the Grüner Pütz , flows through Urft , where it meets the Gillesbach and, below the village, the Kuttenbach . After that the Urft flows through Sötenich and Kall , where it leaves both

60-528: A total length of 320 metres, are an average of 3.10 metres high and 2.40 metres wide, as well as new sealing and drainage and numerous measuring devices. The Eifel-Rur Water Board celebrated the 100th anniversary of the opening of the Urft Dam on 26 August 2005. Since the Rur Dam was completed, the Urft dam not only impounds water on its upstream side, but also impounds the waters of the Rur Reservoir (also called

80-688: A tunnel - the Kermeter Gallery - through the Kermeter ridge north of the reservoir and through the turbines of the Heimbach Power Station with its outflow into the compensating basin of the Heimbach Dam and thus eventually into the Rur. Through this artificial outflow tunnel the mouth of the Urft is near the Heimbach village of Hasenfeld at Rur 111.1 km (69.0 mi). Before the construction of

100-590: Is a 46.4-kilometre-long (28.8 mi) right-hand tributary of the Rur in the county of Euskirchen in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia . It flows through the village of Urft in the municipality of Kall . The Urft rises in the North Eifel region of the Eifel Mountains . The name of the Urft is derived from Urd-apa . The origin of the word Urd is unknown, but apa is Celtic and means "stream". In 1075,

120-714: Is accompanied by the Eifel Line and joined by the Dänenbach stream. It then flows through the village of Blankenheim-Wald , where it collects the Wisselbach and is crossed by the B 258 federal highway. In the next section it is joined by more streams including the Treisbach, the Laufbach and the Haubach. At Steinrütsch, which lies in the parish of Nettersheim and where there are the remains of

140-512: Is around 226 metres long and 6 metres wide, and is 50.5 metres wide at its foot. The Urft Dam was also the highest in Europe until the construction of the Bober Dam in the Giant Mountains of Silesia in 1912. On its completion, the Urft Dam became the model for many other projects at home and abroad after water management for industrialization became increasingly important after the end of

160-550: Is in turn surrounded by the Hohes Venn-Eifel Nature Park . The Urft dam is a curved gravity dam with its convex side facing upstream and an earth embankment (an Intze Wedge ) on the reservoir side that reaches to about half the height of the dam wall. It is situated around 6.8 kilometres, as the crow flies, west-northwest of Gemünd , the northern part of the town of Schleiden in Euskirchen district. The Urft Dam

180-450: Is located within the district of Euskirchen south of the Kermeter ridge, west-northwest of Gemünd in the borough of Schleiden and slightly below the village of Malsbenden. Places from which the reservoir may be reached are Gemünd and Malsbenden or south through the Kermeter from Heimbach . At the northwest end of the snaking waters of the Urft Reservoir and just below the Urft Dam is

200-638: The Dreiborn Plateau between Simmerath - Rurberg (in the neighbouring region of Aachen ) to the west-northwest and Schleiden - Gemünd ( Euskirchen district ) to the east-southeast. It lies immediately above the Obersee , the main pre-basin ( Vorbecken ) of the Rur Reservoir , in which the waters of the Urft and Rur are impounded, and is situated within the Eifel National Park , founded in 2004, which

220-525: The Obersee lake, which acts as the main pre-basin for the Rur Reservoir and in which both the Rur and the Urft are impounded. In the Urft Reservoir ( 322.5 m above  sea level (NN) ), which is surrounded by wooded countryside, lies the island of Krummenauel (max 339.6 m above NN ). The peninsulas at Altenberg (Auf dem Altenberg; max. 351.5 m above NN ), Neffgesberg (max 370 m above NN ) and Hosterauel (max 366.7 m above NN ) jut out into

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240-501: The Obersee ) on its downstream side up to a depth of 12 metres. The Urft Reservoir ( Urftstausee or Urftsee ), which when full is 7.85 km long according to the Deutsche Grundkarte map, although the straight-line distance from the head of the lake to the dam is only about 3.9 km), has a total area of 2.16 km and holds up to 47.75 million cubic metres of water. The River Urft flows through it from east to west. It

260-481: The 19th century. The trial impoundment of the river began in November 1904, its use in water management started on 26 August 1905. North of the Urft Dam and separated from it by the base of a narrow peninsula is the spillway in the shape of an overflow weir with a maximum width of 91 metres which cascades down a total of 33 steps. Within the dam at an interval of 2.5 metres are vertical clay -filled tubes that drain away

280-725: The Eifel Line and the Eifel Aqueduct and collects the Kallbach , before running along the Olef Valley Railway and through Anstois . Next it passes through Gemünd , where the Olef joins and where the B 265 and B 266 cross the Urft in the village. It then leaves the railway and flows through Malsbenden. Next the Urft flows into the Urft Reservoir , which channels its waters usually into

300-517: The Urft Dam, the river emptied in a natural way above the Simmerath village of Rurberg roughly at Rur 123.5 km (76.7 mi) into the Rur. Since the second expansion stage of the Rur Reservoir in 1959 the water from the Obersee on the Rur Dam impounds the old lower reaches of the Urft (near its confluence) on the downstream side of the Urft Dam to a depth of around 12 metres (39 ft). From there

320-814: The Urft was called the Urdefa , in 1419 the Orfft and, in 1503, the Oyrfft . The village of Urft takes its name from the river. The Urft rises in the North Eifel in the High Fens-Eifel Nature Park . Its source is in the Dahlem Forest ( Dahlemer Wald ), 3.8 km (2.4 mi) west of the Dahlem village of Schmidtheim and 2.3 km (1.4 mi) (both as the crow flies ) northwest of Dahlemer Binz Airfield . The Urft initially flows through Schmidtheim. From there it

340-450: The lake. They can also be reached on foot depending on the water level. Rur Eifel The Rur Eifel ( German : Rureifel ) lies in the district of Düren in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia , and is a local recreation area from the regions of Cologne , Aachen , Düsseldorf , Krefeld , Mönchengladbach and Bonn . Its name comes from the river Rur and the Eifel Mountains . The Rur Eifel geographically includes

360-747: The towns of Nideggen , Heimbach and Schleiden as well as the municipalities of Hürtgenwald , Kreuzau and Hellenthal . This holiday and day-excursion region is widely known for having the second largest dam in Europe, the Schwammenauel , or Rur Dam , the Eifel National Park and the North Eifel Nature Park . This Rhineland-Palatinate location article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . 50°37′11″N 6°24′54″E  /  50.6198°N 6.415°E  / 50.6198; 6.415 Urft (river) The Urft

380-466: The water that seeps into the dam wall. Several bottom outlet towers provide access to inspection walkways at two different depths that enable the state of Urft Dam to be checked. The lower inspection gallery runs along its base joint. From 1994 to 2000 the barrage was thoroughly renovated. Among other things, a problem with the uplift pressure was resolved. It was also given two new inspection galleries that were driven using blasting techniques, which have

400-478: Was built between 1900 and 1905. The overall plan for the dam was developed by Prof. Dr. Otto Intze from Aachen and built according to the so-called Intze Principle ; Intze also led the construction. To build the dam wall a railway line was laid from Gemünd to the site to transport men and materiel. The barrage is made of rubble stone composed of greywacke and slate that was quarried locally and rises 58.5 metres above its base ( Gründungssohle ). At its crown, it

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