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Kerspe Dam
Building / Modern architecture | Lake
The Kerspe dam is located close to the border with the town of neighboring Halver and in the far west of the Upper Volme Valley. It is one of the larger of its kind: with a volume of 15.5 million cubic meters and a surface area of 150 hectares, the lake is impressive in size. The dam was built in 1908-12 and today supplies Wuppertal, Wipperfürth and Remscheid with drinking water.
Address
Kerspe Dam
Kerspetalsperre
58566 Kierspe
Telephone: 0202/583582
Fax: 0202/583118
Properties:
The dam wall of the Kerspe reservoir is also impressive. Made of quarrystone, the gravity dam is 360 m long and 6 m wide at the crown. It was thoroughly renovated and reinforced in the 1990s. However, the dam itself is located just beyond the border with the Oberberge district. However, by far the largest part of the lake is located on Kierspe municipal territory.
In addition to drinking water production, a small hydroelectric power plant is in operation at the Kerspe dam, which impounds the eponymous Kerspe. Several signs provide information about water and drinking water supply, and there is even a small open-air exhibition of old fittings that were once used to operate the dam.
However, there is one thing you can't do here: walk around the dam directly along the banks. Many other dams offer this possibility and have a well-developed circular route. The Kerspetalsperre, on the other hand, is completely fenced in. It is even considered one of the best-guarded dams in Germany. This means that hikers have no choice but to find their way through the surrounding forests and at least catch a glimpse of the dam from a distance from time to time. However, thanks to its size, this is not too difficult.
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Directions
The Kerspe reservoir is a drinking water reservoir and is located in drinking water protection zone I. For this reason, the bank area may not be entered. The dam is therefore fenced off and not directly accessible. The best way to reach the dam is on foot as part of a hike. The dam wall is located on the Großfastenrath road.