Artificial whitewater

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Eiskanal in Augsburg, Germany Eiskanal Augsburg.jpg
Eiskanal in Augsburg, Germany
Kayaking and Rafting at Holme Pierrepont, England HPPWhitewater.jpg
Kayaking and Rafting at Holme Pierrepont, England
U.S. National Whitewater Center in Charlotte, North Carolina US National Whitewater Center (10 March 2007).jpg
U.S. National Whitewater Center in Charlotte, North Carolina
The Teesside White Water Course Tees White Water Course.jpg
The Teesside White Water Course
Rafting and canoeing at Dutch Water Dreams Dutchwaterdreams.jpg
Rafting and canoeing at Dutch Water Dreams

An artificial whitewater course is a site for whitewater canoeing, whitewater kayaking, whitewater racing, whitewater rafting, playboating and slalom canoeing with artificially generated rapids.

Contents

Course types

Main types of course:

Flow diversion

These work by diverting a natural river through boulder placement or damming, or by creating new channels next to an existing river, possibly by a weir or power station outflow.

Tidal action

Created in estuaries with large tidal reaches, on a barrage across the river. The barrage is opened during a rising high tide to allow the sea water in, then shut as the tide turns. The water stored above the barrage is then forced through an artificial channel to provide water features.

Pumped

The nature of artificial whitewater courses necessitates the need for a drop in the river, and enough water flow to provide hydraulics. When this isn't possible (often in flat low-lying areas), electric pumps are used to lift and re-circulate the water to the top of the course. The shapes of these courses are commonly circular or U-shaped.

Pumped courses are extremely expensive to run, typically 1-2 megawatts of electrical power are needed to pump 15 cubic metres per second of water down a course with a 5-meter drop in height.

Altered Riverbed

These courses are created in existing natural river channels, but are enhanced with strategic placement of new rocks, boulders, or concrete structures. Some are downstream of river or channel wide dams and therefore have some level of flow optimization, others are subject to seasonal flows.

Olympic whitewater courses

Other notable courses

Under planning or construction

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The Ondrej Cibak Whitewater Slalom Course, in Liptovský Mikuláš, Slovakia, is the world's second-oldest artificial whitewater venue for international canoe slalom competition, after the Augsburg Eiskanal. Built in 1978, it diverts water around a small dam on the Váh river. With recent upgrades, including a covered stadium for spectators, it remains a prime site for the sport.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vienna Watersports Arena</span>

The Vienna Watersports Arena is an artificial whitewater venue for canoe and kayak slalom competition in Vienna, Austria, the only such facility in Austria. It also serves as a family water park, with guided raft trips and practice times for individual boaters. Located across the Danube from the city, on Danube Island, it pumps its water from the New Danube river channel. It opened in August 2013; the following June it hosted the 2014 European Canoe Slalom Championships.

References

  1. International Canoe Federation: Tokyo slalom venue opened
  2. Parque del Agua "Luis Buñuel" http://www.parquedelagua.com/parque-del-agua . Retrieved 10 February 2020.{{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  3. Wadi Adventure https://www.wadiadventure.ae/ . Retrieved 10 February 2020.{{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)