Automation
of a Hydraulic Engineering Model for the River Rhine
Project
Rhine - Recreation and Security (Rhesi)
Automation
of a Hydraulic Engineering Model for the River Rhine
Water
Internationale Rheinregulierung
St. Margareten Switzerland
Around 300,000 people live in the Rhine Valley, where
the Rhine forms the border between Austria and Switzerland, and numerous local
companies provide jobs. The project Rhesi aims to increase the drainage
capacity of the Rhine from 3,100 m3/s to 4,300 m3/s by
widening the riverbed, thus ensuring better flood protection along the Rhine.
Control
(PLC S7-1500) and automation of the pumping system (5 pumps and 2 frequency
converters)
Control
of the water level and the amount of irrigation, recording and logging of the
current flow rates, forwarding of the measured values to the model system of
the ETH Zurich
Visualization
of the plant with PC control system (WinCC Advanced)
Infrastructure
for remote monitoring of the entire model (camera, telecontrol technology)
In river engineering structures of the riverbed such
as gravel banks or indentations are only partially predictable with computer
models. Therefor the calculations for securing bank areas and structures - such
as bridge piers – need to be checked by model tests. In a hydraulic engineering
model automated by Siemens two river sections on a scale of 1:50 were recreated
in a 4,700 m² model test hall.
The International Rhine Regulation was established with the State Treaty of 1892 between Austria and Switzerland. Since then the orgainsiation has been responsible for flood protection on the 26 kilometers between the mouth of the Ill (Feldkirch / Rüthi) and Lake Constance. With the associated taming of the largest wild river in Europe, the Rhine Valley on both sides of the Rhine was able to develop into the valuable and prosperous living and economic area of today.