The development of the Austrian Danube was almost completed with the construction of the Greifenstein power plant in 1982-1984. The site is located in an extensive valley plain which is flooded extensively during high water.
The construction of the run-of-river power plant in the broad valley floor forced the construction of backwater dams in order to protect agricultural and forestry land on both the left and right sides of the Danube from flooding and damming and to preserve valuable floodplain areas. In order to record the flooding processes and flood protection measures as realistically as possible, a flood model of the entire area of influence and detailed structural models were constructed and examined in the test area of Donaukraftwerke AG near Ybbs (Lower Austria), as was the case with the former erected Danube power plants.
The technical management of the model tests was the responsibility of our institute.
Bird's eye view of the model of Greifenstein power plant