Ruhrschleuse Mülheim a. d. Ruhr

In Mülheim an der Ruhr, coal was mined since 1460. Transporting the coal downstream, however, was only made possible when the lock at the boat station was finished in 1780.
Ruhrschleuse is the first in a row of Ruhr locks built until 1780. This first lock was built in 1779 and 1780 where today we find the RWW’s run-of-river power station. After the first lock had fallen into disrepair and had to steep a gradient, a new lock was built in 1843-1845 where we find it today, still in operation. The new lock had to be upgraded in 1927, after Kahlenberger Wehr had been built about 1,000m upstream at the upper end of the lock island, thus raising the upstream water level by 1.5m. Since 1956, the sliding valves and gates have no longer been operated manually but electrically, including all signals.
The Mülheim lock is one-of-a-kind in the Ruhr area by bridging two weirs (Kahlenberger Wehr and Broicher Wehr). That is why the navigation canal upstream is unusually long. The lock itself is 5.64m wide and 63.42m long and bridges an upstream/downstream level difference of 4.59m. After the weir was listed in 1987, 1993/1994 saw a renovation.

Author: Stadt Mülheim an der Ruhr
Last changed on 07.05.2008

Categories:
Engineering » Water Management