Make way!!!
The Bodenheim / Laubenheim polder
Keeping a river in its bed has its limits: protective walls can be flooded, and dikes can break. And then what? You make room for the water. In technical terms, this is called a retention area, and the Bodenheim/Laubenheim polder is a good example of this.
A dike protects the banks of the Rhine over a length of more than four kilometers—until the water level exceeds seven meters. Then, flood gates designed for this purpose are opened and part of the water is "diverted" to a designated open area. In this way, over 6.5 billion liters can be removed from the Rhine, reducing the pressure on the dike accordingly.
Worth knowing
- Construction period: approximately three years
- Dike length: around 4.5 kilometers
- Retention area: approx. 212 hectares
- Objective: Protection against a so-called 200-year flood (water level 8.30 m)