On July 18, 1976, just 33 days after the opening, the Elbe Lateral Canal suffered a catastrophe:a dam burst, water spurted into the surrounding area. A race against time begins.
At the opening on June 15, 1976, the Elbe Lateral Canal is celebrated as a construction of the century. It stretches 115 kilometers through the Lüneburg Heath, connecting the Elbe with the Mittelland Canal. A shock 33 days later:It is Sunday, July 18th, when around 11 a.m. the fire brigades in the region receive an emergency call. A leak in the sewer at a narrow underpass near the village of Erbstorf near Lüneburg. Water shoots from the higher trough into the surrounding area. The suction pulls more and more material with it, the canal is undermined and finally collapses across its entire width. It quickly becomes clear that massive flooding is imminent. The local fire departments are overwhelmed. The district director raises the disaster alarm and calls for helicopters.
15 square kilometers of land flooded
From the air, the extent of the accident becomes clear. Water masses flow towards the surrounding places. Erbstorf, a district of the municipality of Adendorf, is hit the hardest. Basements fill up, house walls partially collapse. Fire brigades are helping residents to evacuate their flooded homes. The Lüneburg-Lübeck railway line is still three kilometers away from the canal, and federal highway 4 north of Lüneburg is being washed away. The water of the canal spreads out over about 15 square kilometers. More and more helpers are taking part in the rescue work:the Technical Relief Agency, the Red Cross, the German Armed Forces and the Federal Border Guard have been alerted. Your task:stop the water.
The tide cannot be stopped
The Erbstorf security gate north of the accident site prevented even greater damage.Safety gates that artificial waterways are equipped with are designed to prevent the entire canal from running empty in this situation. On the Elbe side canal, the Erbstorfer Tor a few hundred meters north of the accident site has to be closed. But until the responsible employee is informed and on site, valuable time elapses. After about an hour and a half, the barrier is closed and no more water flows in from the north. It's more difficult going south. The nearest security gate at Wieren is a good 45 kilometers away. After all, it's about 40 kilometers to the Uelzen lock - in between there are huge masses of water. A ship sailing about 400 meters south of the accident site is to be placed across the canal and used as a dam. But the attempt fails, steel cables tear, the ship turns again and runs aground in the direction of travel.
Tanks enter the canal
The participating Panzer Brigade 8 of the Bundeswehr from Lüneburg is now proposing to form a barrier in the canal with their vehicles weighing several tons. Recovery tanks roll over the dike into the water and stand next to the ship. In addition, heavy metal parts reduce the flow in the approximately 50 meter wide canal. Helpers fill thousands of sandbags and use them to plug more gaps. The water begins to accumulate, the action succeeds. A solid dam of stones and sand is hastily built into the canal 200 meters past this makeshift barrier. He eventually stops the seeping water as well. After 15 hours, around 3 a.m. on Monday night, the canal is closed. The disaster alert will be lifted on Monday afternoon.
Damage in the millions
The repair of the Elbe Lateral Canal takes several weeks. Other underpasses are being reviewed and partially reinforced. It was not until a good year later, on June 24, 1977, that ships were able to pass through the accident site again. The damage is in the millions. The repair of the fracture site costs around five million marks, and the outflowing water masses cause a further 15 million marks in damage - around six million cubic meters. Bliss in disguise:no one gets hurt.
Appraisers discover construction defects
At the site of the accident, a narrow agricultural path leads through the canal.Tunnels, there are around 15 on the Elbe Lateral Canal, are considered critical points. This is where different materials and components meet. Sewer builders know that these places need to be planned and built with particular care. Apparently there were breakdowns on the Elbe Lateral Canal, because experts later found a whole series of construction errors. At the accident site at canal kilometer 102.709, water seeped through leaking joints into the earth around the canal trough and collected in cavities. Larger and larger holes were created until the asphalt concrete canal bed finally ruptured.