Minden Aqueduct / Wasserstraßenkreuz
English: I hesitated to post this photo because it has the technical disadvantage of having been taken in an (unavoidable) backlit situation exceeding the dynamic range of the camera sensor but ultimately I prefer the impressive engineering of this construction. It is a crossing of the Midland Canal (top left) with the Weser (bottom right) at Minden. The canal runs on two parallel bridges. The older one was completed in 1914. When it turned out to be too small a wider bridge was added in parallel from 1993-1998. Dimensions: length 341 m, width 42 m, depth 4 m, water level 13 m above the Weser. The aqueduct water alone must have a mass of more than 50,000 tons, plus 7800 tons of steel for the bridge. It is sufficiently stable to carry ships of thousands of tons. I waited with the shutter release until a ship passed by, the "Dettmer Tank 81" of shipping company Dettmer, Bremen, length 86 m, width 9 m. The Water and Shipping Authority of the city of Minden has created a loop trail of 4 km around the crossing which I strongly recommend to any Minden visitor.
P.S. 2009-05-07 As of today it is the only image at Flickr with the tag "navigable aqueduct ", unfortunately. It would be interesting to see more examples worldwide.
Deutsch: Ich zögerte, dieses Foto hochzuladen, weil ich gezwungen war, in einer Gegenlichtsituation mit einer Beleuchtung zu fotografieren, die den Dynamikbereich des Sensors überstieg. Aber es überwog die Faszination über dieses Bauwerk, das Wasserstraßenkreuz von Mittellandkanal und Weser bei Minden. Die deutsche Beschreibung halte ich kürzer, weil es einen ausführlichen deutschen Wikipedia-Artikel gibt. Jedem Minden-Besucher kann ich den 4 km langen Rundweg empfehlen, den das Wasser- und Schifffahrtsamt Minden eingerichtet hat. Als "Navi-Ziel" empfehle ich den Parkplatz an der "Schachtschleuse, Minden", alternativ die Sympherstraße.
Minden Aqueduct / Wasserstraßenkreuz
English: I hesitated to post this photo because it has the technical disadvantage of having been taken in an (unavoidable) backlit situation exceeding the dynamic range of the camera sensor but ultimately I prefer the impressive engineering of this construction. It is a crossing of the Midland Canal (top left) with the Weser (bottom right) at Minden. The canal runs on two parallel bridges. The older one was completed in 1914. When it turned out to be too small a wider bridge was added in parallel from 1993-1998. Dimensions: length 341 m, width 42 m, depth 4 m, water level 13 m above the Weser. The aqueduct water alone must have a mass of more than 50,000 tons, plus 7800 tons of steel for the bridge. It is sufficiently stable to carry ships of thousands of tons. I waited with the shutter release until a ship passed by, the "Dettmer Tank 81" of shipping company Dettmer, Bremen, length 86 m, width 9 m. The Water and Shipping Authority of the city of Minden has created a loop trail of 4 km around the crossing which I strongly recommend to any Minden visitor.
P.S. 2009-05-07 As of today it is the only image at Flickr with the tag "navigable aqueduct ", unfortunately. It would be interesting to see more examples worldwide.
Deutsch: Ich zögerte, dieses Foto hochzuladen, weil ich gezwungen war, in einer Gegenlichtsituation mit einer Beleuchtung zu fotografieren, die den Dynamikbereich des Sensors überstieg. Aber es überwog die Faszination über dieses Bauwerk, das Wasserstraßenkreuz von Mittellandkanal und Weser bei Minden. Die deutsche Beschreibung halte ich kürzer, weil es einen ausführlichen deutschen Wikipedia-Artikel gibt. Jedem Minden-Besucher kann ich den 4 km langen Rundweg empfehlen, den das Wasser- und Schifffahrtsamt Minden eingerichtet hat. Als "Navi-Ziel" empfehle ich den Parkplatz an der "Schachtschleuse, Minden", alternativ die Sympherstraße.