The Regulation of the Rhine (German : Rheinregulierung) or Rhine Correction (Rheinkorrektion), refers to the canalisation of the Alpine Rhine on the border between Austria and Switzerland in the late 19th/early 20th century. Its aim was to reduce the risk of flooding and to re-route the international border which ran along the old course of the Rhine.
The oldest record of flooding on the Alpine Rhine dates to 1206. One of the worst instances took place on 28 September 1868, when almost the whole of the Rhine valley from Sevelen to Lake Constance stood under water. The embankment broke at three points. The Alpine Rhine meandered through the Alpine Rhine Valley in a riverbed 200 to 300 m (660 to 980 ft) wide, accompanied on both sides by inland waters and embankments 500 to 1,000 m (1,600 to 3,300 ft) apart. From 1861 to 1881, the canton of St. Gallen, supported by the Swiss Federal Treasury, the Principality of Liechtenstein and the Austrian Empire, created a regular riverbed between Landquart and Au. However, the capacity of the river bed was still insufficient, which is why the embankments were raised again by 1890. [1]
More than 30 streams still flowed into the Alpine Rhine below Landquart. At high water these were filled up and flooded. As a result, the 20.8 km (12.9 mi) long Werdenberg Canal was built in less than two years, from 1882 to 1884, collecting all the tributaries between Wartau and Rüthi and feeding their waters into the Rhine. Twenty years later the Rhine Valley Canal was opened, collecting all the streams from Rüthi to Au. In 1910, the Vorarlberg Rhine Valley Canal was completed, which drained the area between the catchments of the Frutz and Dornbirner Ach. [2] The Liechtenstein inland canal, just under 25 km (16 mi) long, was not finished until 1943. [3]
For the construction and maintenance of the levees on the Swiss and Austrian side of the Alpine Rhine, the International Rhine Regulation Railway was constructed. It opened in 1892 and since 2008 it is a heritage railway.
The 1892 treaty between Austria-Hungary and Switzerland on the regulation of the Rhine [4] put to an end the many flood disasters on the Alpine Rhine between Sargans and Lake Constance, reducing the course of the river by means of two cuts in order to increase the gradient, raise the flow rate of the river and prevent deposition of sediments. The company, Internationale Rheinregulierung (IRR) is the umbrella under which the two countries, Austria and Switzerland, coordinated the construction and they still maintain the banks today. They have their head office in Rorschach, Switzerland, and a construction department in Austrian Lustenau and Swiss St. Gallen.
Lake Constance refers to three bodies of water on the Rhine at the northern foot of the Alps: Upper Lake Constance (Obersee), Lower Lake Constance (Untersee), and a connecting stretch of the Rhine, called the Lake Rhine (Seerhein). These waterbodies lie within the Lake Constance Basin in the Alpine Foreland through which the Rhine flows. The nearby Mindelsee is not considered part of Lake Constance.
Vorarlberg is the westernmost state of Austria. It has the second-smallest geographical area after Vienna and, although it also has the second-smallest population, it is the state with the second-highest population density. It borders three countries: Germany, Switzerland, and Liechtenstein. The only Austrian state that shares a border with Vorarlberg is Tyrol, to the east.
The Grisons or Graubünden, more formally the Canton of the Grisons or the Canton of Graubünden, is one of the twenty-six cantons of Switzerland. It has eleven districts, and its capital is Chur. The German name of the canton, Graubünden, translates as the "Grey Leagues", referring to the canton's origin in three local alliances, the Three Leagues. The other native names also refer to the Grey League: Grischùn in Sutsilvan, Grischun in the other forms of Romansh, and Grigioni in Italian. Rhaetia is the Latin name for the area. The Alpine ibex is the canton's heraldic symbol.
The Alpine Rhine Valley is a glacial alpine valley, formed by the Alpine Rhine, the part of the River Rhine between the confluence of the Anterior Rhine and Posterior Rhine at Reichenau and Lake Constance. It covers three countries, with sections of the river demarcating the borders between Austria and Switzerland and between Liechtenstein and Switzerland. The full length of the Alpine Rhine is 93.5 km.
The canton of St. Gallen or St Gall is a canton of Switzerland. Its capital is St. Gallen.
Lustenau is a town in the westernmost Austrian state of Vorarlberg in the district of Dornbirn. It lies on the river Rhine, which forms the border with Switzerland. Lustenau is Vorarlberg's fourth largest town.
The Eastern Alps are usually defined as the area east of a line from Lake Constance and the Alpine Rhine valley, up to the Splügen Pass at the Alpine divide, and down the Liro River to Lake Como in the south. The peaks and mountain passes are lower than the Western Alps, while the range itself is broader and less arched.
Thurbo is a railway company with S-Bahn-style services in Switzerland, southern Germany, and northeastern Vorarlberg, Austria, jointly owned by Swiss Federal Railways (90%) and the canton of Thurgau.
The United Swiss Railways was a former railway company in Switzerland. It was the smallest of the five main railways that were nationalised from 1902 to form the Swiss Federal Railways.
Vogtei Rheintal was a condominium of the Old Swiss Confederacy from the 15th century until 1798. Its territory corresponded to the left banks of the Alpine Rhine between Hoher Kasten and Lake Constance, including the towns of Altstätten and Rheineck.
The Alter Rhein is the old river bed of the Alpine Rhine in St. Gallen and Vorarlberg in the Alpine Rhine Valley, which was cut off when the Rhine was straightened during the 20th century. These cut-off arms have become valuable recreational areas and a nature reserve.
The border between the modern states of Austria and Switzerland is divided into two parts, separated by the Principality of Liechtenstein, with a total length of 180 km (110 mi). The longer, southern stretch runs across the Grison Alps and the shorter one following mostly the Alpine Rhine, except near Diepoldsau and between Lustenau and Lake Constance, where it follows the Old Rhine bed. The border continues northward to the Austrian-Swiss-German tripoint located within Upper Lake Constance.
The Saar is a minor tributary of the Alpine Rhine in the Swiss canton of St. Gallen. It rises in Mittelsäss, Bad Ragaz municipality, at 2,087 m elevation. Flowing generally north, it passes the Saarfall waterfall, dropping from 560 m to 500 m, reaching the plain of the Rhine Valley. From here, it is strongly canalised, flowing through the territories of the Vilters-Wangs, Mels and Sargans municipalities before joining the Rhine downstream of Trübbach at 480 m.
The Chur–Rorschach railway line, also called the Rhine Valley line, is a standard gauge railway line in Switzerland. It belongs to the Swiss Federal Railways (SBB) and is located in the cantons of St. Gallen and the Grisons.
The Vorarlberg S-Bahn is a label for regional rail services in the Austrian state of Vorarlberg. It is integrated into the Vorarlberg Transport Association (VVV) which manages ticket pricing, and is operated by the state-owned ÖBB and privately owned Montafonerbahn (mbs). In addition to Vorarlberg, the network connects to the German town of Lindau, the Swiss towns of St. Margrethen and Buchs SG, and stations in the Principality of Liechtenstein.
The S4 is a railway service of the St. Gallen S-Bahn that provides hourly service between Sargans and Rapperswil via St. Gallen, connecting stations in the cantons of St. Gallen and Appenzell Ausserrhoden. The section near Lake Constance is also part of the Bodensee S-Bahn. Südostbahn (SOB), a private company primarily owned by the federal government and the canton of St. Gallen, operates the service.
Buchs SG railway station is a railway station in Buchs, in the Swiss canton of St. Gallen. It is an intermediate stop on the Chur–Rorschach line and western terminus of the Feldkirch–Buchs line to Austria and Liechtenstein. It is served by local and long-distance trains. As the station is located just north of the crossing of the Rhine between Switzerland and Liechtenstein, long-distance trains traveling between Zürich and points east must reverse direction.
The St. Margrethen–Lauterach line is a 9.580-kilometre (5.953 mi) long, part single part double tracked, electrified railway line in the Alpine Rhine Valley, near Lake Constance. The route is owned and operated by Austrian Federal Railways (ÖBB) and is mainly used by the border station in St. Margrethen.
The S2 is a railway service of the St. Gallen S-Bahn that provides hourly service between Nesslau-Neu St. Johann and Altstätten SG in the Swiss canton of St. Gallen, via Herisau in the canton of Appenzell Ausserrhoden. The section near Lake Constance is also part of the Bodensee S-Bahn. THURBO, a joint venture of Swiss Federal Railways and the canton of Thurgau, operates the service.