The city announced this in a press release on Friday afternoon. Employees of the City of Vienna’s Flood Protection – Vienna’s Waterways are prepared for all eventualities. Thanks to the Danube Island and the New Danube, Vienna’s Danube Flood Protection is prepared for large amounts of water.
The MA 45 flood control center in the intake structure in Langenzersdorf as well as the two other weirs 1 and 2 on the New Danube will be manned around the clock from Saturday morning, it was said. The Danube Island is 21 kilometers long and around 210 meters wide and is a huge protective structure that flanks the New Danube as a relief channel for the Danube stream.
When the water level is high, the New Danube relieves the pressure on the Danube. The New Danube is equipped with three weirs. When the water level is normal, it is a stagnant body of water. When the water level is high, the weirs are opened. This relieves the pressure on the main stream and prevents flooding.
Weir fields open from 6 meter water level
When the Danube reaches a water level of 5.20 metres near Korneuburg, the weir fields of the intake structure are overflowed and the Danube floodwater initially flows into the New Danube without any intervention. When the water level reaches around 6 metres, the weir fields are slowly opened and the floodwater is drained away in a controlled manner.
The entire dam system in and around Vienna is designed for a flow capacity of up to 14,000 cubic meters of water per second, which is roughly equivalent to the largest flood ever recorded in Central Europe in 1501. The extreme floods in 2002 and 2013 were also managed with it, and the city remained virtually unscathed.
Due to the flow of Danube water into the New Danube, a bathing ban has been declared for the New Danube for water hygiene reasons. The bathing ban is effective immediately.
The two pontoon bridges over the New Danube, the Copa footbridge and the Waluliso bridge, were already removed before the weekend for flood protection reasons. The Copa Cruise has also currently stopped operating and the ferry boat has been moved to a flood-safe area.
Meanwhile, the Vienna fire brigade reported more calls than usual on Friday afternoon. These mainly involved fallen trees and water ingress. Fortunately, no one has been injured so far.
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