HUESKER products provide safe, economic solutions for the inlet channel at Ritzersdorf power plant

A channel could mean death: if it has smooth sides or slopes on each side, there is no escape for any person or animal that falls in. All attempts to clamber up the smooth channel walls are bound to end in failure.

So the designers came to the following conclusion for the Austrian Ritzersdorf power plant near Judenburg: an asphalt or concrete lining on the inlet channel into the hydroelectric plant was out of the question. The construction approach to the channel was necessary to maintain the required fall into the power plant.

Local residents had already complained about similar channels with sheet pile walls, saying that several deer had fallen in and after hours of struggle had died in great distress. This problem had to be avoided at Ritzersdorf.

There were further arguments against sealing the channel with asphalt or concrete: the first is that these materials are very sensitive to settlement, hence there is always the fear of vertical displacement and secondly construction is technically very complex and therefore expensive.

The solution for the inlet channel was provided by two proven products from HUESKER: the geosynthetic clay liner NaBento^® RL-C, and the HaTe^® non-woven E 650. The combination ensures a reliable and protected seal.

Also this approach has the following advantages: the synthetic clay liner and the nonwoven combination  makes the channel lining relatively insensitive to settlement, its appearance fits in well with the idyllic landscape and there are cost benefits. In addition the materials are extremely easy to handle. Construction was undertaken by the firm Karl Pitzer, which was able to complete the contract in six months. The work included the installation of the seal, the connection to an existing bridge and the importation of fill and coarse crushed rock.

However, the most important aspect was: the channel presents no danger to people or animals there are no smooth sides and a chance of escape. "Accidents like those in other channels cannot happen with our solution," says Huesker's Herbert Lassnig.