| Bjoreio | |
|---|---|
Vøring Falls on the Bjoreio River | |
| Country | Norway |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Main source | Tinnhølen, Eidfjord 1,213 m (3,980 ft) |
| River mouth | Lake Eidfjord, Eidfjord 17.5 m (57 ft) |
| Length | 72 km (45 mi) |
| Basin features | |
| Basin size | 627 km2 (242 sq mi) |
The Bjoreio, also known as the Bjoreia, [1] is a river in the municipality of Eidfjord in Hordaland, Norway. [2] [3] [4] The river is 72 kilometers (45 mi) long, and it has a drainage basin of 627 square kilometers (242 sq mi). [2] Its natural average discharge is 25.2 cubic meters per second (890 cu ft/s), [5] but this is considerably less today because of hydroelectric infrastructure along the watercourse.
Eidfjord is a municipality in Hordaland county, Norway. The municipality is located in the traditional district of Hardanger. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Eidfjord, where the majority of the municipal population lives. The other major population centre in the municipality is the village of Øvre Eidfjord.
Hordaland is a county in Norway, bordering Sogn og Fjordane, Buskerud, Telemark, and Rogaland counties. Hordaland is the third largest county after Akershus and Oslo by population. The county government is the Hordaland County Municipality which is located in Bergen. Before 1972, the city of Bergen was its own separate county apart from Hordaland.
Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northwestern Europe whose territory comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula; the remote island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard are also part of the Kingdom of Norway. The Antarctic Peter I Island and the sub-Antarctic Bouvet Island are dependent territories and thus not considered part of the kingdom. Norway also lays claim to a section of Antarctica known as Queen Maud Land.
The Bjoreio has its origin on the northwest side of Sildabunutane, a 1,444-meter (4,738 ft) mountain in Hardangervidda National Park. The river, which is called the Eitro here, then runs southeast through Sildabudalen, a wide valley, and into Langavatnet, a lake at an elevation of 1,223 meters (4,012 ft). Under the name Snero the river continues the short distance to Tinnhølen, a lake at 1,213 meters (3,980 ft). When it flows out of Tinnhølen the river is now named Bjoreio, and it runs to the northwest out of the national park and down through the Bjorei Valley (Bjoreidalen). At the Nybu tourist lodge it is joined by the Svinto from the east. Here the river runs through the Bjorei Valley Nature Reserve (Bjoreidalen naturreservat). In the nature reserve there is a ban on walking outside specially marked trails from May 20 to July 20 to protect nesting birds. [6] Further downstream, at Storlia, is the 81-meter (266 ft) high Sysen Dam, a large stone embankment that creates Lake Sysen on the Leiro River just before it empties into the Bjoreio. The rivers continues westward through the Sysen Valley, where its tributaries include the Isdølo from the north and the Drolstølbekken from the south. At Fossli the river creates 182-meter (597 ft) high Vøring Falls, where it hurtles down into the narrow and deep Måbø Valley. The river empties into Lake Eidfjord in Øvre Eidfjord, only 500 meters (1,600 ft) from the nearby Veig River. At the opposite end of Lake Eidfjord, the short Eio River empties into the Hardanger Fjord. [7]
Hardangervidda National Park, at 3,422 square kilometers, is Norway's largest national park. It spans from Numedal and Uvdal in the east and Røvelseggi and Ullensvang in the west across the Hardanger mountain plateau (Hardangervidda). Designated as a national park in 1981, today it serves as a popular tourist destination for activities such as hiking, climbing, fishing, and cross-country skiing. The Norwegian Mountain Touring Association (DNT) maintains a comprehensive network of huts and paths across Hardangervidda. The Bergen Line and the main Highway 7 cross the plateau.
Tinnhølen or Tinnhylen is a lake in Norway that lies in the municipality of Eidfjord in Hordaland county and a very small part crosses into the municipality of Nore og Uvdal in Buskerud county. The lake lies just inside Hardangervidda National Park on the vast Hardangervidda plateau. The northern part of the lake is accessible by road.
The Sysen Dam is a rock-fill embankment dam in the municipality of Eidfjord in Hordaland, Norway. The dam is 1,157 meters (3,796 ft) long, 81 meters (266 ft) high, and 258 meters (846 ft) wide at its base. It is built of 3.6 million cubic meters of stone and moraine deposits.
Together with the nearby Sima River to the north, the Bjoreio River has been developed for power production at the Sima Hydroelectric Power Station. [8] Lake Sysen is used as the main reservoir. The river's flow has been diverted through a tunnel to the lake and, together with the upper course of the Isdølo, the water is then directed to the power station below Kjeåsen on the north side of the Simadal Fjord. The river bed below the Sysen Dam is dry for most of the year, but during the summer season it is required to release water so that the flow at Vøring Falls is at least 12 cubic meters per second (420 cu ft/s).
The Sima is a river in the municipality of Eidfjord in Hordaland, Norway. The river is 29.64 kilometers (18.42 mi) long, and it has a drainage basin of 125 square kilometers (48 sq mi) and an average discharge of 8.86 cubic meters per second (313 cu ft/s).
The Sima Power Station is a hydroelectric power station located in the municipality Eidfjord in Hordaland, Norway. It stands at the mouth of the Sima River. The facility Lang-Sima operates at an installed capacity of 500 MW, and has an average annual production of 1,212 GWh. The facility Sy-Sima has an installed capacity of 620 MW, and an average annual production of 1,640 GWh. Operator is Statkraft.
Kjeåsen is a mountain farm in the municipality of Eidfjord in Norway's Hardanger district, in Hordaland county. The farm lies at an elevation of 513 meters (1,683 ft) at the innermost point of the Simadal Fjord. The farm is no longer being worked, and one person lives there during the summer. The site is popular with tourists, especially Swedes. The farm has been referred to as "the world's most inaccessible farm."
At the lower end of Lake Måbø (Måbøvatnet), the old road through the valley crosses the river over the Måbø Bridge. [9]
The Måbø Bridge is a stone arch bridge over the Bjoreio River in the Måbø Valley just below Lake Måbø (Måbøvatnet) in the municipality of Eidfjord in Hordaland, Norway.
