Rhine water levels 2023 and similar topics

[notamermaid]

With a few days having passed, another few days have come into view in the probability chart for the level at Kaub and I can see an adjustment for the better. With the level going down after the rain and dry weather forecast, we should have a look at what is happening. Kaub peaked on 4 April, is now on 308cm, a typical level for Spring (rain and snowmelt). The level is expected to stay above 150cm for the next two weeks as the most likely scenario. Good.

 

I say dry weather but a band of clouds with rain is approaching Germany. There will be rain but overall I would see it more as a mix of rain, clouds and sun rather than rainy over Easter.

 

notamermaid

 

[notamermaid]

In post #122 I mentioned the excavations at Mainz. A shopping centre was knocked down and the investor is planning a new one. But as it always happens in such old places, the archaeologists come in to do some digging in the ground. And what they have found this time is quite remarkable! As I said in the post, it caught the attention of not just the nerds, the finds are historically important beyond a few Roman coins. A few things from the modern era were interesting, then they dug through the upper layers to Medieval cellars that were still partly intact. A rare spectacular find is the seal of a papal bull and a silver Roman coin is also a lovely find. They expect to find more Roman artefacts among the Roman walls when the get to the base layer of Roman occupation.

 

The great thing about this dig for us laymen is the fact that the company has put up a container with glass as a viewing platform from which to see the excavations. This was the report by SWR with the finds and the platform mentioned at the end of it: https://www.swr.de/swraktuell/rheinland-pfalz/archaeologische-ausgrabungen-mainz-papstbulle-100.html

 

The area is not far from the new Dom (cathedral) and near the old Dom, the building site is at Ludwigsstrasse. The street is lending the new shopping experience the name, LU:, that is what it will be.

 

Noticed that I wrote new Dom? If you read up on it you will see that it (mainly) goes back to the 11th century! So how old is the old Dom?? That was not clear for many, many years and it was not even certain which church at which spot it may have been, there were some ideas and clues that led to convincing hypotheses. Modern archaeology has brought much to light - quite literally. I will post a little bit more about that another time.

 

notamermaid

 

 

[openwaterwanderer]

Very imformative and reassruing. Will check back re expected water levels for our Amerstadam-Basel Rhine River cruise last week of April.  Thank you!

[notamermaid]

10 hours ago, openwaterwanderer said:

Very imformative and reassruing. Will check back re expected water levels for our Amerstadam-Basel Rhine River cruise last week of April.  Thank you!

Welcome to CC and thank you for saying hello on this thread. Have a great cruise.

 

notamermaid

 

[notamermaid]

Hope you have all had a weekend with good celebrations. This weekend is important for tourism as - if they have not before - beer gardens up and down the river open. And the season for excursion boats has officially started. A few sail before this but traditionally Easter is the weekend on which to start round trips and the regular service up and down the valley's stretches where the different companies operate.

 

notamermaid

 

[Canal archive]

One of the biggest challenges the cruise companies have is that the date of Easter changes from year to year, next year it’s earlier, before the end of March. Hopefully next year they can sort out with the lock maintenance and keep everything crossed there’s no strikes.

[notamermaid]

End of March is perhaps a bit trickier for proprietors of beer gardens if they have to renew contracts before April. But I would not hesitate to sail in March on an excursion boat. This year I wanted to in the week leading up to Easter. Just missed the first sailings by two days, i.e. I only had time on Thursday and Good Friday when no ships were running near me.

 

A quick look at Kaub: most likely figures are still in a very good range. Inching closer to 150cm towards the end of the month, but not reaching it yet probably.

 

notamermaid

 

[RDVIK2016]

Question for Notamermaid and anybody currently on a Rhine cruise: Are you hearing about any labor disputes that might affect the operation of locks between Basel and Iffezheim in the upcoming weeks? 

[notamermaid]

From here I cannot find any news, in German language searches it is all quiet. In French, strikes on the Rhone appear to have ended and ships are running again. Nothing new about the Rhine. General strike coming up, not clear if this could affect locks: https://www.cestlagreve.fr/greve-generale-13-avril-2023/

 

Over to others...

 

notamermaid

 

[Cienfuegos]

Thank you very much for this interesting thread.

 

The excavations around Mainz sound interesting.

[notamermaid]

Found the info for the excavations container, exact place and opening times are on here: https://lu-erleben.de/

 

notamermaid

 

[notamermaid]

Strike

According to the news outlet BFM Alsace the strike in France has affected Rhine shipping. This morning protesters blocked the lock at Kembs and cut the power supply. Info through Basel newspaper: https://www.bazonline.ch/schifffahrt-auf-dem-rhein-teilweise-lahmgelegt-981203466972

 

notamermaid

 

 

[twototravel]

23 hours ago, notamermaid said:

Strike

According to the news outlet BFM Alsace the strike in France has affected Rhine shipping. This morning protesters blocked the lock at Kembs and cut the power supply. Info through Basel newspaper: https://www.bazonline.ch/schifffahrt-auf-dem-rhein-teilweise-lahmgelegt-981203466972

 

notamermaid

 

 

@notamermaid In addition to shipping, wouldn't this affect river cruise ships too? The Basel - Amsterdam route is very popular. Do you think the protests will last more than a day or two?

[notamermaid]

5 hours ago, twototravel said:

@notamermaid In addition to shipping, wouldn't this affect river cruise ships too? The Basel - Amsterdam route is very popular. Do you think the protests will last more than a day or two?

Sorry, I must have been in "business mode", therefore shipping, I should have said river traffic. All ships that need to go through the lock of course.

 

This is the link to the official info. It says that the info is no longer valid, as of this morning:

https://www.elwis.de/DE/dynamisch/mvc/main.php?modul=nfb&action=searchOne&LANGUAGE=DE&NFB_ID=0803/2023

 

This should mean that all traffic is running again, or at least that this strike action has ended. Such a busy lock when it is closed will immediately create a backlog. Let us just say that we should enjoy the peace while it lasts...

 

The water levels look really good so less of a concern for pleasant sailing than the French unpleasant "antics" this spring. Kaub is at 218cm and is due to rise following rain that is now coming as a small wave from the Upper Rhine valley from today until the 19th. After the wave has gone through the level will go down quite a bit but stay above 150cm most likely till the end of the month.

 

notamermaid

 

[notamermaid]

Short info. U-boat coming up the Rhine (no joke!).

 

The technical museum in Speyer will get another German submarine to put on display. Departure of the "U17" from the port of Kiel is scheduled for 28 April. Can be spotted on the Rhine in May: https://www.technik-museum.de/en/u17

 

notamermaid

 

[notamermaid]

I see in the computer simulation for Maxau that a good rise is expected on 25 April. It is suggested that the level could rise over 600cm on 26 April. Certainly something to watch, but not a worry yet. It would be a short wave and may affect river cruising in the Upper Rhine valley.

 

It looks like April will be a wet one in the statistics. We always have rainy and unpredictable weather in this month before it settles and becomes warm, but I think we have had precipitation above the average. Which is good. The level in Lake Constance has risen, too.

 

notamermaid

 

[RDVIK2016]

After all my concern and discussion about what would be the water level at Kalb while on our cruise this is what we got today.

[notamermaid]

@RDVIK2016 Hurrah, das erste Live-Photo!

 

Thank you for sharing, this is indeed the first live photo from a river cruise this year on this thread. And very nice it is, too. The water level what can I say - perfect!

 

Have a great evening, the sun has come out with me. I hope you can enjoy a nice sunset, too.

 

notamermaid

 

Edited April 18, 2023 by notamermaid

[notamermaid]

Sailing through the Rhine Gorge you see the famous Lorelei rock. The guide/commentary will probably point out the statue sitting at the harbour to you. Oddly, on the rock towering 132m above the Rhine there had been no statue. But that is where the lady is supposed to have sat. Visitors to the plateau constantly asked where the depiction of her was. Therefore a statue had been commissioned not too long ago and the locals decided on a design. Now the statue has been revealed. Video and text in German: https://www.swr.de/swraktuell/rheinland-pfalz/koblenz/sankt-goarshausen-neue-loreley-statue-einweihung-100.html

 

The bend in the river at Lorelei rock is indeed very narrow and dangerous. There is truth in the legend as always. The valley is narrow and the river may look shallow but at the rock there it is deep, very deep - the ravine is 25 metres deep.

 

notamermaid

 

[notamermaid]

As the probability chart now takes us to the beginning of May let us have a look. Kaub river level will stay above 150cm but we have a wide margin of error right at the end of April so it is not clear yet how much the wave coming from the Upper Rhine valley at that time will affect the Middle Rhine valley. The Main joins the Rhine much after Maxau so that goes into the computer modelling for Kaub. All in all it looks fine, with a level over 350cm not expected. I mentioned Maxau in a previous post. The prediction there remains more or less unchanged. The margin of error is wide on 27 April but the level will stay most likely under what may affect river traffic. We will know more in two or three days.

 

Time to return to the Mainz topic and explain about the two cathedrals.

 

notamermaid

 

[notamermaid]

Do you remember that I posted about Nickenich in the Eifel, near the Rhine? The volcanic region still being active underneath the surface? Yup, they have been at it again, the forces deep down in the ground. Just "next door" from Nickenich at the Ochtendung fault line was the epicentre of an earthquake on Tuesday morning. At 3.23am the earth shook and rumbled, waking people up. It has been the strongest earthquake this year so far in Germany, 2.9 on the Richter scale. Not fun, but luckily no damage has been reported.  That is a typical time for river cruise ships to sail through the Neuwied basin where the earthquake was of course felt. Would one be able to distinguish in one's sleep between engine/ water motion and earthquake? No idea.

 

notamermaid

 

[CastleCritic]

2 hours ago, notamermaid said:

Do you remember that I posted about Nickenich in the Eifel, near the Rhine? The volcanic region still being active underneath the surface? Yup, they have been at it again, the forces deep down in the ground. Just "next door" from Nickenich at the Ochtendung fault line was the epicentre of an earthquake on Tuesday morning. At 3.23am the earth shook and rumbled, waking people up. It has been the strongest earthquake this year so far in Germany, 2.9 on the Richter scale. Not fun, but luckily no damage has been reported.  That is a typical time for river cruise ships to sail through the Neuwied basin where the earthquake was of course felt. Would one be able to distinguish in one's sleep between engine/ water motion and earthquake? No idea.

 

notamermaid

 

Having been through the "great east coast" earthquake a few years back and sitting on a beanbag on concrete at the time...at a distance that would have been in that range...no...definitely not.

[AliceS]

I will be following this thread because I am doing Basel to Amsterdam in September.   It’s wonderful to read your comments, notamermaid.   Thank you.

[notamermaid]

My pleasure, AliceS. Thank you for saying hello.

 

Today is a beautiful sunny day around here, we have had cold nights and some rain which came down as snow in the mountains, not the valley or low hills. Looks like we may be fully in Spring now. Trees are blossoming, car is covered with yellow-green dust (pollen) and the tulips in a garden down the road look adorable. It is currently raining in parts of the Upper Rhine valley though.

 

Ships are out and about on the river of course, if anyone out there would like to post some photos in this thread to whet others' appetite for the Rhine please do.

 

Rhine levels still looking good for at least a week to come. Predicted to rise with Maxau showing it from 25 April, which will then give Kaub a nice rise again.

 

notamermaid

 

[mjz]

20 hours ago, notamermaid said:

My pleasure, AliceS. Thank you for saying hello.

 

Today is a beautiful sunny day around here, we have had cold nights and some rain which came down as snow in the mountains, not the valley or low hills. Looks like we may be fully in Spring now. Trees are blossoming, car is covered with yellow-green dust (pollen) and the tulips in a garden down the road look adorable. It is currently raining in parts of the Upper Rhine valley though.

 

Ships are out and about on the river of course, if anyone out there would like to post some photos in this thread to whet others' appetite for the Rhine please do.

 

Rhine levels still looking good for at least a week to come. Predicted to rise with Maxau showing it from 25 April, which will then give Kaub a nice rise again.

 

notamermaid

 

Hi notamermaid, I've been following this thread for awhile now.  I see Kaub referenced a lot.  What's the significance of Kaub?