Oder Dam

Oder Dam
Location of Oder Dam in Germany
Official name	Odertalsperre
Country	Germany
Location	district of Göttingen
Coordinates	51°39′02″N 10°30′57″E
Construction began	1930
Opening date	1933
Dam and spillways
Type of dam	Embankment dam
Height	62 m (203 ft)
Length	316 m (1,037 ft)
Width (crest)	8.65 m (28.4 ft)
Dam volume	1.4×10^6 m3 (49×10^6 cu ft)
Reservoir
Total capacity	31.85×10^6 m3 (1.125×10^9 cu ft)
Catchment area	52 km2 (20 sq mi)
Surface area	136 ha (340 acres)
Power Station
Decommission date	1990s
Type	Pumped-storage
Turbines	2
Installed capacity	6.2 MW

The Oder Dam (German: Odertalsperre) is a dam in the Harz mountains of Germany. It lies above Bad Lauterberg in the district of Göttingen in Lower Saxony and impounds the river Oder. The dam went into service in 1934 after taking 3 years to build. The owner and operator of the Oder Dam is the Harzwasserwerke.

Purposes

The reservoir serves the following purposes:

• Flood protection
• Low water regulation
• Power generation

These functions sometimes create conflicting demands. For flood protection, the reservoir should be as empty as possible; for low water regulation, it is desirable that the reservoir is as full as possible. Accordingly, there are for the water economy an operating plan that is dependent on the time of year and the expected water quantities. e.g. snow meltwaters at the end of winter, droughts in summer.

Dam

The actual barrage is an embankment dam made of rubble (crushed stone) with a central concrete core and a grout curtain of clay. The concrete wall has joints that follow the shape of the whole dam, without leaking. The design is very similar in many respects to the Söse Dam built shortly beforehand.

Pumped storage hydro-electric power station

The reservoir of the dam originally acted as the upper reservoir of the pumped-storage power station. Immediately below the dam is the lower reservoir with a 7.5 m high earth dam that acted as a stilling basin. The power station is also located at the foot of the dam. It has 2 turbines with a combined output of 5.04 MW (possibly as much as 6.2 MW). The pumped-storage facility has not been used since the 1990s as it was no longer economical. The power station now operates simply as a storage power station with a Francis turbine.

Upgrades

The dam was rehabilitated from 2010 to 2018.

Tourism

The lake is open to watersports such as angling, sailing and surfing. There is also a local restaurant and a campsite."Angeln im Harz" (in German). Archived from the original on 2022-11-28.

Oder Reservoir in winter, seen from the dam

View over the Oder Reservoir

View from the reservoir down to the stilling basin

See also

• List of dams in the Harz
• List of reservoirs and dams in Germany
• Pumped-storage hydroelectricity
• Oderteich

References

• Franke, Peter; Frey, Wolfgang (1987). Talsperren in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland. Berlin: Systemdruck. ISBN 3-926520-00-0.
• Martin Schmidt: Talsperren im Harz. Ost- und Westharz. 9. Auflage, Aktualisiert von Rainer Tonn. Papierflieger Verlag GmbH, Clausthal-Zellerfeld 2012, ISBN 978-3-86948-251-4

External links

• "Oder Dam". en.structurae.de. (in English)
• "Oder Dam". Harzwasserwerke.de (in German). Archived from the original on 2011-07-19. Retrieved 2009-12-31. with link to the current dam data.
• "Sights in the Harz: The Oder Dam" (in German).
• "The Oder Dam in the Harz" (in German).
• Technical information with a dam cross-section (PDF) (in German). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2005-05-01.