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Biggedamm
Waters | Building / Modern architecture
The Biggetal dam was built on the outskirts of the town of Attendorn in the 1960s. Its main purpose is to store and release water as required, thus ensuring a steady flow of water in the Ruhr. The reservoir can release up to 40 percent of the required supply water from all reservoirs into the Ruhr river system via the Bigge and Lenne rivers.
Address
Biggedamm
Am Biggedamm
57439 Attendorn
Properties:
The Biggetal dam is one of the largest dams in Germany and the second largest in North Rhine-Westphalia in terms of reservoir volume (see list of dams in Germany). It is located in the center of the EbbegebirgeNature Park between the towns of Attendorn in the north and Olpe in the south. Since 1965, it has been damming the left tributary of the Lenne to the Biggesee with a rockfill dam in order to control the water flow in the Lenne and Ruhr and increase flood protection.The operator and owner of the dam, also known as Biggen for short, is the Ruhrverband, based in Essen, which operates a total of seven other dams in the Sauerland region. As a special feature, the formerly independent Listertalsperre was integrated as a forebay during construction.
