Restoration of the Danube between Hundersingen and Binzwangen Regional Council Tübingen

At the beginning of the 19th century, the Upper Danube was straightened in large sections. The increase of the gradient, the strong shortening of the course and the constriction of the watercourse led to a strong depth erosion of up to 3 m. As part of the Integrated Danube Programme, the state of Baden-Württemberg pushed ahead with the "Danube restoration between Hundersingen and Binzwangen" between 2009 and 2011. Over a length of 2.7 km, the Danube was given a new, near-natural river bed, partly in historic river loops. In the process, the length of the Danube was extended by 400 m and the gradient was reduced to a natural level by raising the bed by up to 2.5 m, so that the Danube floodplain can now be left to natural succession and morphological self-development in large areas. By means of a differentiated formation of baffle and sliding banks as well as of different depths of the riverbed, deep dips and shallow riparian areas, diverse water habitats were created in combination with the installation of deadwood structures and a multitude of flow-directing elements. The transition of the new high-lying watercourse bed into the low-lying existing bed takes place by means of a bottom slope in the form of a rock ramp serving as an ecological fish pass with a length of approx. 150 m and a width of approx. 40 m.