The Hassel Auxiliary Dam or Hassel Dam
Hassel Dam
at en.structurae.de. Accessed on 23 Jan 10. (german: Hasselvorsperre or ''Vorsperre Hassel'') is an auxiliary dam or pre-dam on the Rappbode Reservoir
The Rappbode is a right-hand, southwestern tributary of the River Bode in the Harz mountains in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt. In its lower reaches it is impounded by the Rappbode Dam, the largest dam in the Harz.
The Rappbode rises east of ...
in the Harz mountains
The Harz () is a highland area in northern Germany. It has the highest elevations for that region, and its rugged terrain extends across parts of Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Thuringia. The name ''Harz'' derives from the Middle High German ...
of central Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
. It is located near Hasselfelde
Hasselfelde is a town in the district of Harz, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It is situated in the eastern Harz, approximately 17 km south of Wernigerode. Since 1 January 2010, it is part of the town Oberharz am Brocken. Hasselfelde has 2,390 i ...
in the state of Saxony-Anhalt
Saxony-Anhalt (german: Sachsen-Anhalt ; nds, Sassen-Anholt) is a state of Germany, bordering the states of Brandenburg, Saxony, Thuringia and Lower Saxony. It covers an area of
and has a population of 2.18 million inhabitants, making it the ...
and impounds the waters of the Hassel, the eastern of the two headwaters of the Rappbode Reservoir. Together with its auxiliary dams, the reservoir supplies drinking water and is owned by the Saxony-Anhalt Dam Company (''Talsperrenbetrieb Sachsen-Anhalt'').
The purpose of the auxiliary dam is to pre-clean water mechanically and biologically before it flows into the main reservoir.
Water can be collected from various heights and diverted to the reservoir.
The barrier itself is a 21 m high gravity dam
A gravity dam is a dam constructed from concrete or stone masonry and designed to hold back water by using only the weight of the material and its resistance against the foundation to oppose the horizontal pressure of water pushing against it. ...
. The bedrock consists mostly of grauwacke
Greywacke or graywacke (German ''grauwacke'', signifying a grey, earthy rock) is a variety of sandstone generally characterized by its hardness, dark color, and poorly sorted angular grains of quartz, feldspar, and small rock fragments or lit ...
, but with some thinly laminated argillaceous shale
Shale is a fine-grained, clastic sedimentary rock formed from mud that is a mix of flakes of clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolin, Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4) and tiny fragments (silt-sized particles) of other minerals, especial ...
as well.
There is a circular path around the Hassel Auxiliary Dam. The crest of the dam is accessible to pedestrians and the lake may be fished provided permission is obtained.
The Hassel Auxiliary Dam is checkpoint no. 53 in the Harzer Wandernadel hiking trail network.
See also
* List of reservoirs and dams in Germany
These are dams and reservoirs in Germany.
The German word ''Talsperre'' (literally: valley barrier) may mean dam, but it is often used to include the associated reservoir as well. The reservoirs are often separately given names ending in ''-see' ...
* Dams in the Harz
References
External links
Hassel Dam at en.structurae.de
Saxony-Anhalt Dam Company
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Dams in the Harz
Dams in Saxony-Anhalt
Dams completed in 1960