!!!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 16%%sup th/%  century. The first 
systematic torrent control measures date from the 18%%sup th/%  
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.

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In the 20%%sup th/%  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
Oesterr. Wasserwirtschaft, 1908ff.


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