Rhine water levels 2023 and similar topics

[moonriver54]

9 hours ago, notamermaid said:

Yup! Compare the slight incline at Speyer in this photo in December. I think that pontoon is being stretched to its physical limits (thanks to the photographer for uploading this photo, he invites comments): https://www.fotocommunity.de/photo/hochwasser-am-rhein-gorzitze-dieter/47964760

 

As this "Treasures..." itinerary differs from the standard Amsterdam to Basel one, the Viking Tialfi is in Nijmegen today. Facing the wave later today.

 

Cologne officially peaked at 823cm, 7cm under the threshold for a river traffic ban.  The crest of the wave is now between Duisburg and Wesel. They will both peak before the evening. The conditions on the Lower Rhine there in Germany are different, no prospect of a river traffic ban. I am not familiar with the Rhine/Waal in the Netherlands.

 

notamermaid

 

 

Looking at Google Maps, it appears the "wave" of serious floodwater between Duisburg and Wesel is about 20 miles (32 km) in length as it flows north towards the Netherlands. I wonder if they're seriously concerned about this...or is it considered "manageable" floodwater??

[notamermaid]

12 hours ago, moonriver54 said:

Looking at Google Maps, it appears the "wave" of serious floodwater between Duisburg and Wesel is about 20 miles (32 km) in length as it flows north towards the Netherlands. I wonder if they're seriously concerned about this...or is it considered "manageable" floodwater??

Interesting question. Not sure that I can give that good an answer as I do not live on the Lower Rhine. As I have hinted at, the Lower Rhine is a bit different in nature from the Middle Rhine. There are still several agglomerations like Duisburg with its massive harbour, but the valley is wider with more flood plains. The river is measured differently, hence the fact that while Cologne was close to a river traffic ban at Duisburg the graph did not even get close:

 

It is an environment I am not too familiar with, but we often here of dykes being watched carefully, i.e. those that protect the hinterland beyond the flood plains in serious flooding.

 

So the river is managed, controlled and watched all the time. No flooding is allowed to go unchecked, there are detailed flood plains and inundation maps for all the lines mentioned above in colours with HW and a number. Those are the lines for statistical flooding every x years. In the graph I only entered HW2. That means this is a flood happening something between every two to five years. Such a wave is in my eyes manageable. Of course you get flooded cellars, unusable roads, etc.

 

In terms of manageable I would consider this easier and not as dangerous as a storm flood coming up the Elbe and flooding Hamburg or what happens to the Netherlands occasionally or what is happening to Pas-de-Calais right now.

 

notamermaid

 

 

 

[notamermaid]

Hmm, I think we can wind down a bit and bring the thread to a close slowly. Catching up on a a couple of things and the December recap.

 

First, Cochem. This came up as part of a Viking itinerary from Basel to Trier. The itinerary change as posted by @SplashOfWater :

"She also told me that they were informed the Cochem Christmas market stop was cancelled because it was closed on Dec 20 (their stop date). Looking at the calendar for the market, it only runs this year until Dec 17. You can't tell me that Viking didn't know this in advance."

To which I replied with this comment:

"As regards Cochem Christmas market - I thought all dates were published online as is standard practice latest in summer. Large events dates are normally fixed nearly a year prior."

 

In the meantime I have got round to speaking to a lady at the tourist-information centre for Cochem over the phone. She confirmed that the Christmas market closed on 17th December and it was a planned date, not at short notice, published a long time prior. She also stated the market in 2024 is going to be open again on dates closer to the 24th (possibly 20th, you would need to check online, she was not quite sure yet). The early closure was a one-off.

 

notamermaid

 

[notamermaid]

One-off - hmm, was the flooding in November and December such an event? Has it happened before? How often does it happen? Will it likely impact my Christmas market cruise this year?

 

So, second thing I am catching up on. I posted a kind of answer to those questions quite a few posts back with the annual graph for Worms. It became clearly visible that flooding of this kind is not standard, but it was not a one-off either. This scenario is rare but can happen. Let us look at it again with the in this screenshot almost completed graph for 2023 at Maxau gauge:

 

As you can see, this past November was exceptional and December with its sudden thaw made it worse, surpassing on two or three days the highest recorded levels of the period from 1981 to 2021.

Okay, extreme, but what about the frequency?

 

For November and December:

In 2010 there was one day in December with a level over 750cm, in 2011 none, in 2012 there were three days in December over 750cm, in 2013 there were none, in 2014 there were none, in 2015 there were none, in 2016 there were none, in 2017 there were none, in 2018 there were none, in 2019 there were none, in 2020 there were none.

 

notamermaid

 

 

 

 

[moonriver54]

Thanks so much for posting all of the above.  Very fascinating stuff!!

[notamermaid]

Good news for the passengers of the Viking Tialfi. With so few river cruise ships sailing a landing stage that is not affected much by the high water levels has been available and their ship is docked in Cologne city centre:

 

And the Viking Alruna? Her signal got too weak just before Strasbourg so I cannot find her now.

 

notamermaid

 

[Novakc]

Hopefully that is where the Tialfi can dock in February when we are aboard. It is half way between the cathedral and the chocolate museum. It has been more than a few years since we have been in Cologne. Hubby used to regularly have conferences in Cologne.

[notamermaid]

This is only one day (for the time being) but just in case Viking cruisers are reading this. Here is some info on the farmers' strike in Germany tomorrow: https://today.rtl.lu/news/world/a/2154645.html

Major traffic disruptions are expected. Koblenz will see a massive gathering in the afternoon on Monday, 8 January, the authorities are advising against coming to the city as they expect major traffic problems (Koblenz is a busy (and congested) hub very often anyway). German news: https://www.swr.de/swraktuell/rheinland-pfalz/koblenz/bauernproteste-grosse-demo-verkehrsbehinderungen-im-norden-von-rlp-100.html

Police information service available.

 

notamermaid

 

 

 

[notamermaid]

3 minutes ago, Novakc said:

Hubby used to regularly have conferences in Cologne.

So you know your way around Cologne a bit. I tend to avoid the city centre and just go to a few specific places away from Hohe Strasse. Still enjoy shopping at Kaufhof Galeria though (where there are comfortable toilets (or at least used to be, have not been there recently)). I like going to the end of Schildergasse at Neumarkt and then walking along Mittelstrasse past the church Sankt Aposteln.

 

notamermaid

 

[notamermaid]

So the Viking Alruna is sailing the river as the levels fall, the Viking Tialfi is through the wave which is now at Emmerich and therefore leaving Germany. All good but both ships' passengers may face dozens of tractors on the roads of Rhineland-Palatinate. What a weird winter.

 

Tomorrow's strike is not the only event this week that the farmers are planning but it looks to be the one with the most potential disruptions.

 

notamermaid

 

[notamermaid]

And as the wave is now in the Netherlands a brief catch-up with the Dutch news:

https://nltimes.nl/2024/01/07/rhine-river-reaches-fourth-high-water-peak-sunday

 

The good news is that - which I can also see at Maxau gauge computer modelling - we will see dryer weather throughout the Rhine basin, a welcome break for the currently rather damp Netherlands before they need to cope with their rain and us sending melted snow down there again.

 

Let us hope for a relatively calm day under the circumstances tomorrow, the river is free, the roads may not be...

 

And then just a few more notes on 2023.

 

notamermaid

 

[notamermaid]

The Viking Alruna and the Viking Tialfi are side by side in Mainz tonight:

 

A pleasant dock close to the city centre:

 

notamermaid

 

 

 

[notamermaid]

A quick assessment as we follow the two ships along for a couple more days. The situation is much improved and the river's levels are falling well in the absence of rain. It is a splendid, cold and sunny day today. But we still have high levels that necessitate adjustments. Koblenz gauge has only just dropped below navigational flood mark I:

 

Until about the 16th of January we should see further falling levels. Then we get wetter weather.

 

notamermaid

 

 

[notamermaid]

Let us have a look at what the river did in December. Normally I show this at the graph for Kaub. This time we look at Basel, Maxau and Kaub as there is an interesting occurrence.

 

 

 

 

The river started the month on a relative high, represented at all three gauges. Along the way from Basel to Kaub the Rhine has several locks and major tributaries. Rain and the sudden thaw caused a high volume of water in Switzerland and in the Upper Rhine valley. With the first wave at the beginning of the month it appears that the locks and dams did not alter the level much so Maxau sees a spike similar to Basel. But that does not show up in the graph at Kaub. On the 5th, when we would have expected to see the strong reaction at Kaub, we see just a small "hump". Spikes at Maxau often do not appear as extreme by the time the wave gets to Kaub. Flood plains, man-made methods of flooding areas to take the edge of the high level on the way to the Middle Rhine valley and the lower levels of tributaries play a part to varying degrees. The Main river and other tributaries were not flooding.

 

Which takes us to the second, really high, wave. All three graphs show it. At Basel and at Maxau the graph crosses the HSW line, meaning there was a river traffic ban. At Kaub the line does not appear as the level did not get close enough.

 

Just before Christmas we see the levels rise again. This time the water from Switzerland was not creating the high volume there had been during the wave in the middle of the month. But the wave went to Maxau where - the river having drained the Black Forest and part of the Vosges mountains (again) - we see the wave in the graph. Here it went over the HSW line again and caused a short river traffic ban.

 

The short wave was due at Kaub of course but look what happens in the graph. That relatively short and small wave, which was only so high as a result of the river not having recovered from the previous wave, comes from Basel and Maxau and then at Kaub is suddenly much higher, almost as high as the previous one. What happened between Maxau and Kaub? The tributaries between the two gauge stations contributed a very high volume of water. The Neckar river was flooding, but the Main river was the main factor in this with smaller rivers like the Nahe river joining at Bingen also adding to this.

 

A very wet Christmas and an unusual month which ended on high to very high, but improved levels on all stations on the Rhine up to the border with the Netherlands.

 

notamermaid

 

[notamermaid]

Time to move on to 2024.

 

So to end just a thank you to all who have contributed or taken an interest in this thread in the background. You have kept me really busy.

 

notamermaid

 

[Pushka]

2 hours ago, notamermaid said:

Time to move on to 2024.

 

So to end just a thank you to all who have contributed or taken an interest in this thread in the background. You have kept me really busy.

 

notamermaid

 

We all need to thank you! So Thankyou. 😁

[notamermaid]

My pleasure @Pushka.

 

Just to add - 2024 thread coming soon.

 

notamermaid

 

[ural guy]

11 hours ago, notamermaid said:

My pleasure @Pushka.

 

Just to add - 2024 thread coming soon.

 

notamermaid

 

Ya know, there is a quote feature in real life...and I've quoted you enough to my girls, that I'll mention something about water levels, or a note about Germany, and I've been asked, 'was that from Notamermaid'?  Interesting when you can tell them about a ship hitting a dolphin at a dock you were moored to the day prior, or other local tidbits.

 

You make and our other local participants make us all smarter!

[Canal archive]

Ural Guy stop knocking the dolphins!  Oh I just wish they cruised that far inland, beautiful beautiful creatures, have swum with them once, had to because both of my daughters had. Can’t let them get one up on Mum!

[ural guy]

In this case, these dolphins protect docking spots.

 

"Dolphins typically consist of a number of piles driven into the seabed or riverbed, and connected above the water level to provide a platform or fixing point. The piles can be untreated or pressure-treated timber piles, or steel or reinforced concrete piles. Smaller dolphins can have the piles drawn together with wire rope, but larger dolphins are typically fixed using a reinforced concrete capping or a structural steel frame."

 

Not a dolphin, but you can see a Narwhal in the St Lawrence river.  I took my dog out for a walk yesterday at Tibbet's Point, where Lake Ontario ends and the St Lawrence begins.  The south facing slopes at the old lighthouse had green grass, in January.  It should be under snow...

 

[Canal archive]

Oh we I think have something similar on our oh so much smaller canals but it’s not an expression used over here. I will have to ask some of our engineers.

[ural guy]

I just learned the term when it was posted here about 10 days ago.

[RDVIK2016]

8 hours ago, Canal archive said:

Oh we I think have something similar on our oh so much smaller canals but it’s not an expression used over here. I will have to ask some of our engineers.

Search on "dolphin (structure)", "breasting dolphin", "mooring dolphin".  You should be able to find something. I just found a reference to such dolphins in relation to Portland harbor near Bournemouth. The German word is "Dalbe" that has an interesting etymology. I would tell you we call them dolphins on our side of the pond, but you might think it is only because Americans speak English kind of funny. Dolphins can be a group of piles bound together, or a steel tube driven into the riverbed, etc. Here's some nearby to me at a ferry slip on the Thames River (pronounced /θeɪmz/ not /tɛmz/) in Connecticut, USA (as an example of us speaking funny).  Also here is something for your engineers to read.  https://www.researchgate.net/publication/375074600_Performance-based_design_of_berthingmooring_dolphin_structure_considering_geotechnical_and_structural_constraints_under_offshore_load_conditions

[Canal archive]

Ohh thank you so much.

[notamermaid]

3 hours ago, ural guy said:

I just learned the term when it was posted here about 10 days ago.

Full disclosure. I did not know the English word until I wanted to write about it in the context here. I put the German "Dalbe" into the online dictionary.

 

4 minutes ago, RDVIK2016 said:

The German word is "Dalbe" that has an interesting etymology.

I think we should have some fun with that in the 2024 thread (yes, language nerd part of brain activated).

 

notamermaid