Help...River Water Levels

[buffetking]

We will be cruising on the Vantage River Explorer on September 10, Budapest to Amsterdam on the Danube, Main, and Rhine Rivers.

 

I just looked up water levels and translated some of the page from elwis.de/gewaesserkunde/Wasserstaende/Wasserstaende_start.php.html to babelfish.yahoo.com, cutting and pasting. It looks like water levels are very low in Wurzburg and Frankfurt on the Main River and in Cologne but, surprisingly, the water levels look much higher near Passau including Bamberg and Regensburg. From 850 cm. (27 ft.) in Passau down to 159 cm. (5 ft.) in Wurzburg. Does that mean the water level is too high for the Explorer to cruise underneath the bridge in Passau, and water level too low in Wurzburg? Are we going to get to cruise or should we expect to be bussed everywhere?

[steamboats]

I think you had a look on the wrong river at Passau. The Inn river is at 815 cm right now. The Danube river is at 500 something. The river level does not indicate that there is only this height of water. Usually there is much more water than this. The number depends on the official zero mark at this point of the river. This can be higher than the river bottom.

 

steamboats

[G.M.T.]

Buffetking,

 

We have not had an 850 cm river level on the Danube for some time, even in the recent high levels we only went up to about 720 cm. At 850 cm the highest alarm level (level 4) would have been been put in place. This last time we did not reach level 3. The rivers Danube and Inn are currently only a little bit above their average levels (drove over both this morning).

 

Here is a link to the current Danube / Inn levels:

 

http://www.hnd.bayern.de/pegel/wasserstand/pegel_wasserstand.php?pgnr=10091008&standalone=1

 

http://www.hnd.bayern.de/pegel/wasserstand/pegel_wasserstand.php?pgnr=18009000

 

I think "steamboats" was right in that you were either looking at the wrong chart or Altavista translation is not what it used to be.

 

I think what you may have been looking at, as you mentioned the bridge in Passau (Luitpoldbrücke / Leopold Bridge, was the actual bridge clearance that is the height between the water level and the bridge currently at about 770 cm. In the graphic the higher the cm value the low the water level.

 

http://elwis.de/gewaesserkunde/Wasserstaende/wasserstaendeUebersichtGrafik.html.php?pegelId=4520c1a8-174c-4b95-9ca3-fe1e3f9d874a

 

Ron

[buffetking]

Thanks for your information, Steamboats and Blu*Donau! I see lots of green dots which is good news. Are there any problems, areas of concern, or caution that you know about right now, with ships not being able to get down either the Danube or the Rhine? We will be there in 14 days!

[G.M.T.]

In and around Passau, there are currently not any problems.

 

14 days in weather forecasting is a life time.:eek:

 

I personally think you will be OK for your cruise. This time last year (around 20th. September) the Danube level was so low in Regensburg that the boats could not move and so passengers were bussed.

 

Have a great cruise.

 

Ron

[buffetking]

I was able to get the web page to come up in English, which is great!!! No more cutting and pasting!!! Type elwis.de/gewaesserkunde/Wasserstaende/Wasserstaende_start.php.html and bring up the page in German first, for comparison. Then right click and copy the web address (elwis.de/ etc.) preceded with http:// and do a google search. Several web pages with that name will come up. Only pay attention to the ones with a Translate button next to them. Now I know that the page shows prediction/estimation of water levels at several different locations.

[amachad]

I am new to river cruising. Is there often a problem with water levels ? We are on the Danube at the end of November

[annie99]

I checked out the translation for the river levels, but I don't know what the numbers mean. Is there a map or graphic? At what point do the numbers indicate a problem?

Thanks! We leave in a week!