The Rappbodetalsperre is being improved: A leak has to be closed. But before the actual work begins, diving robots with high-pressure nozzles are used.
Thale (dpa/sa) - With diving robots, the renewal of the bottom outlet is being prepared at the Rappbodetalsperre in the Harz Mountains. These pipes through the dam are not tight, said a spokesman for the Saxony-Anhalt dam operation. Now, however, a rail system on the wall of the dam would first have to be cleared of a centimeter-thick plaque. The diving robots are equipped with high-pressure nozzles and have been in use for a few days, the spokesman said.
At the dam, water seeps in through a leak. In the next step, the point on the water side had to be compacted with a panel. Since the water cannot be drained and the construction work sometimes takes place at a depth of 80 meters, divers and diving robots are used.
According to the Environment Ministry in Magdeburg, the Rappbode Dam is Germany's largest drinking water dam with a storage capacity of around 109 million cubic meters. According to the spokesman for the dam operation, it is also the highest. The Rappbodetalsperre was inaugurated in 1959 and is the heart of a dam system. It is used for flood protection, drinking water production and electricity production. The water faces a 106 meter high and 415 meter long wall.
