!!!Rhein, Vbg

Rhine ("Alpenrhein"), River, Vorarlberg, formed by the 
confluence of Vorderrhein and Hinterrhein rivers near Reichenau in the 
Swiss canton of Graubuenden (Grisons); main tributary of  Constance, 
Lake. Short section of the river on Austrian territory, from Bangs 
(431 m) to Lake Constance. In 1900 and 1923, the course of the 
Rhine, which still defines the Swiss-Austrian border, was changed as a 
result of river regulation: rectification of the bend at Dipoldsau and 
of the river mouth; construction of the Koblach and Lustenau canal and 
the Landgraben canal. Previously, the Rhine Valley had been affected 
by frequent flooding. Approximately 1,000 hectares of land have been 
reclaimed through the construction of an 8-kilometre-long dam and lake 
in the delta. In Vorarlberg, pollution of the Rhine is only moderate 
(level 2); at the Lustenau measurement point the average flow rate of 
the Rhine is 233 m%%sup 3/%/Sek. The fertile Rhine Valley, up to 
10 kilometres wide with remnants of former marshlands, extends between 
Bregenz (398 m) in the north and Feldkirch (458 m) in the south. 
The tectogenic Rhine Valley was formed by the ice stream of the 
Pleistocene Rhine glacier. After the ice had melted, gravel and sand 
deposits formed the broad, flat-floored valley. A few remaining 
elevations are the Ardetzenberg Mountain in Feldkirch (631 m), 
the Kummaberg Mountain near Koblach (667 m) and the Sonderberg 
Mountain near Altach (461 m). Between Goetzis and Lake Constance 
the Rhine Valley is called Unterland. Grassland and dairy farming 
account for 90 % of agriculture in the Rhine Valley; also 
horticulture, fruit-growing and some wine-growing. Some settlements 
have over 1,000 inhabitants per km%%sup 2/% and are thus among the 
most populous areas in Austria. The Rhine Valley autobahn (A 14) runs 
from Bregenz to the Walgau Valley via Feldkirch, with the railway line 
running almost parallel to the autobahn (rail junction of Feldkirch, 
one line heading towards Liechtenstein and the Walgau Valley, the 
other going up to Bregenz and on into Germany).

!Literature
H. Held, Vorarlberg und Liechtenstein, 1988; 
Umweltinstitut des Landes Vorarlberg (ed.), Fliessgewaesser in 
Vorarlberg, 1993.


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