photo credits: Andi Schiefer — “It’s nice out there.”
HYDRO
Training activity at the new river wave facility.
NUREMBERG ‘FUCHSLOCHWELLE’: A NEW FACE IN URBAN SPORT Anyone who takes surfing seriously knows it takes far more than a board and a broad smile. Stamina, focus and the readiness to skilfully adapt to changing conditions are essentials. The southern-German river surfing community has shown just what can be achieved by realising projects such as the recently-opened ‘Fuchslochwelle’. The relatively new sport of river surfing is now trending. Increased environmental awareness has led to a more critical view of long-distance flights to the classic surfing destinations of the world. Attention has turned to the possibilities provided by regional venues, and to the question of how to exploit them sustainably. In keeping with this line of thinking, the project was realised by local companies: The Bavarian hydraulic steel component manufacturers Erhard Muhr GmbH, and the Rhineland civil engineering office, Dreamwave GmbH, a business in close cooperation with the University of Innsbruck. River surfers know what it’s like to jump into cold water; and now these two businesses know the feeling too – this being the world’s first installation of its kind.
T
he ceremonial opening of the Fuchslochwelle stationary wave facility on the 25th February 2022 marked the keeping of a promise made to the southern-German river surfing community by the Nürnberger Dauerwelle e.V. association over 10 years ago: The promise was to build a stationary wave in the heart of the city as a place for N.D. e.V. members to train and an easily accessible facility for the public to try the sport. Over ten years of planning, convincing politicians and more than 2000 hours of voluntary work were invested in the Fuchslochwelle. The centre piece of the facility is the standing wave, integrated into a channel built parallel to the main arm of the river. The weir required to
create a build-up of water and the fishway were integrated into the original Pegnitz riverbed. The weir and wave ramp can be set up independently of one another in reaction to the natural fluctuations in flow volumes along the river. The facility design guarantees a stable water level further upstream, as well as the creation of various types of waves. The structural designs for this standing wave were developed and patented by Dreamwave GmbH. The wave was built by Erhard Muhr GmbH, also responsible for the layout of the surrounding wave production engineering, manufacture of the dam gates, the complex hydraulics set-up and sophisticated control system. The association’s new sports and leisure infrastruc-
ture is a non-commercial contribution to the encouragement and diversification of activity in a publicly-accessible local urban area. How ever, development of a technical concept was required to adapt the facility to the variety of river-flow conditions in order to make it avail able throughout the year. NUMEROUS SET-UP OPTIONS Lasse Bauer, Dreamwave engineer and surfer, explains the basic principle behind the standing wave facility: “The wave infrastructure consists of three modules, each with three main components: a segment, a plate and a kicker. The segments hold back the water, the plates determine the water-speed transition May 2022
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