Computers

The flood will be simulated on Erft on PC

3 years ago
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by Frank Mccarthy
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For future prevention
:
The flood will be simulated on Erft on PC

Cars in the water on the flooded Bundesstraße 265 near Erftstadt in July 2021.
Photo: dpa / Marius Becker

Cologne The county government of Cologne later asked an engineering office to simulate a flood on the Erft River. This should help protect against future flooding, for example when bridges are being reconstructed.

The county government of Cologne has simulated the devastating flood on the Erft River on a computer. The authority announced to the German News Agency that a corresponding contract was awarded to an engineering company. “The knowledge gained from the recalculations forms the basis for future work on flood prevention and protection,” a spokesperson said. The data should be used, for example, to reconstruct bridges and scales.

According to the county government, floods and their effects, which occur frequently, moderate or rare, have already been calculated in advance. The category of rare floods was based on an event that occurs statistically every 1,000 years. During the flood in July 2021, it was found that “this rare event was significantly exceeded in some cases”. The blocks of water were enormous.

Now the actual extent of the flood must be clarified. For example, aerial photographs and “geo-referenced photos,” as the region’s government explained, can help. It is planned to look at other bodies of water afterwards.

Storms with unusually heavy rainfall caused a flood disaster in North Rhine-Westphalia and Rhineland-Palatinate in mid-July. Entire regions were devastated by masses of water. The places on the Irft River were severely damaged. In Irftstadt, for example, a huge landslide occurred. Many homes were swept away, causing a huge crater.