The Brändbach Dam (), whose

reservoir A reservoir (; ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam, usually built to water storage, store fresh water, often doubling for hydroelectric power generation. Reservoirs are created by controlling a watercourse that drains an existing body of wa ...

is called the Kirnbergsee, is a small

dam A dam is a barrier that stops or restricts the flow of surface water or underground streams. Reservoirs created by dams not only suppress floods but also provide water for activities such as irrigation, human consumption, industrial use, aqua ...

near Bräunlingen in

Baden-Württemberg Baden-Württemberg ( ; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a states of Germany, German state () in Southwest Germany, east of the Rhine, which forms the southern part of Germany's western border with France. With more than 11.07 million i ...

in the

Black Forest The Black Forest ( ) is a large forested mountain range in the States of Germany, state of Baden-Württemberg in southwest Germany, bounded by the Rhine Valley to the west and south and close to the borders with France and Switzerland. It is th ...

. It is used to generate electricity, for flood protection and for recreation. The lake lies within the Kirnbergsee

protected area Protected areas or conservation areas are locations which receive protection because of their recognized natural or cultural values. Protected areas are those areas in which human presence or the exploitation of natural resources (e.g. firewood ...

, which also includes surrounding areas. The dam impounds the Brändbach stream, which is part of the Breg catchment.

Construction

The barrier is a crooked

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. Gravity dams are designed so that each section of the dam is ...

made of concrete with

rubble stone Rubble masonry or rubble stone is rough, uneven building stone not laid in regular courses. It may fill the core of a wall which is faced with unit masonry such as brick or ashlar. Some medieval cathedral walls have outer shells of ashlar wit ...

cladding. It was renovated in 2000 and was the first dam in Germany to be sealed with a plastic sealing sheet (

geomembrane A geomembrane is very low permeability synthetic membrane liner or barrier used with any geotechnical engineering related material so as to control fluid (liquid or gas) migration in a human-made project, structure, or system. Geomembranes are m ...

) of PVC on the reservoir side. In 1955 it had already been reinforced with concrete on the reservoir side.

Power

The power capacity of the

hydropower station Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is Electricity generation, electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies 15% of the world's electricity, almost 4,210 TWh in 2023, which is more than all other Renewable energ ...

is 300 kW; it generates 0.7 GWh per year. It is operated by the town of Bräunlingen.

Reservoir

Since 2008, the Kirnbergsee has been assessed as of "excellent quality" according to EU bathing water standards.

References

Literature

*Dietmar Veyhle und Jürgen Köngeter: Die Brändbachtalsperre – Erstmalige Sanierung einer Staumauer mit einer Geomembran in Deutschland, Wasserwirtschaft 4/2003

External links