Wasserbau#

Hydraulic Engineering, generally denotes all structural measures for the use and management of water, more specifically only regulation structures on rivers and lakes; hydraulic engineering comprises flood control, Torrent and Avalanche Control, sanitary engineering, agricultural hydraulic engineering, water pollution control and water management constructions. The oldest evidence of hydraulic engineering in Austria dates from Roman times (excavations in Vienna and on Magdalensberg mountain in Carinthia). Logging paths and logging dams were required in forest exploitation and have been constructed in Austria since the Middle Ages. In 1311 The first waterway to be made navigable, in 1311, was the Traunfall near Roitham (Upper Austria). The first clearances of the bed of the Danube canal (Vienna) were carried out in 1377. H. von Gasteiger was considered the most important hydraulic engineer of the 16th century. The first systematic torrent control measures date from the 18th century (east Tyrol); 1777-1782 navigation obstructions were blasted in the Strudengau valley ( Danube, River). By the end of 1849, 250.5 km of the Austrian section of the River Danube (total of 348 km) had been stabilised through bank protection measures. 1870-1875 French companies executed the great Danube cut-off at Vienna, using machinery applied in and experience gained from the construction of the Suez Canal. The following rivers also underwent large-scale regulation after 1860: the Mur south of Graz, the upper part of the Enns, the Inn and the Traun. 1895-1900 great Rhine cut-off at Fussach; by 1934 the total length of the Austrian part of the Rhine in Vorarlberg had been shortened by 10 km.

In the 20th century numerous small rivers and streams were regulated; the construction of power stations necessitated large-scale regulations and straightening (e.g. in and around Vienna, Donauinsel), which often resulted in considerable changes in the hydrological balance.

Literature#