HUGE DAM IN POLAND

Evening Star, Issue 22572, 13 February 1937, Page 21

HUGE DAM IN POLAND

TO PROVIDE POWER AND STDP FLOODS A reservoir to form one of the largest artificial lakes in Europe is being built at Nowy Sacz, on the Dunajeo River in the foothills of the Carpathians, in. Southern Poland. , It will have an area of 7i square miles, and the dam will be more than 100 ft high. The co»struction of this reservoir is part of a big scheme of works undertaken by the Polish Government, from which a three-fold benefit is expected. A recurrence of the floods of 1934, which destroyed roads, railways, and whole villages, will be prevented. The flow of the Vistula, of which the Dunajec is a tributary, will be regulated; and power will be provided for generating electric current. Other reservoirs ar6 being built near Karakow and Bielsko-Biala, and in Upper Silesia, all on small tributaries of the Vistula. When all are finished it should be possible to increase the size of barges in regular use on the upper Vistula from 1,100 to 1,500 tons. In the central provinces of Poland, which was formerly under Russian rule, the banks of the Vistula are unregulated, but plans have been drawn up for their regulation in the near future. The barges will then be able to go right down to Warsaw and the sea. They will take coal from Upper Silesia for delivery all down the river and for transhipment to seagoing boats at Danzig. On the return journey they will bring timber for pit props. Welldesigned ports are being constructed at all tne more important towns on iha river banks. Four turbines at the dam at Nowy Sacz will produce 50,000 kilowatts, and plans have been made for the electrification of all south-west Pland. Some of the smaller reservoirs will be finished next year, and such good progress has been made during this season’s work that it is hoped that the whole plan will be completed in three years. The total cost will he in the neighbourhood of £2,000,000. A large part of the sum has been raised on loan, but help has been received from the State Work Fund.