Kermeterstollen, Underground water tunnel at Heimbach power station, Germany
Kermeterstollen is an underground water tunnel running about 2.7 kilometers through the Kermeter ridge in North Rhine-Westphalia. It carries water from the Urft reservoir to the Heimbach hydroelectric power station.
The tunnel was built during the early era of modern hydroelectric development and was later destroyed by German forces in 1945. The attack on its seals caused the complete drainage of the Urft reservoir during World War II.
The tunnel reflects early 20th-century engineering prowess in the Eifel region and continues to shape how locals understand water management. It represents a time when such infrastructure was built by hand and ingenuity rather than modern machinery.
The tunnel is not normally open to visitors as it is part of an active power station facility. Professional inspections occur every 20 years and require the Urft reservoir to be drained for full access to the tunnel interior.
Construction teams met underground with less than one meter of deviation despite having 220 meters of rock above them. This precision was achieved using surveying techniques from the early 1900s without modern electronic equipment.
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