Staustufe Wintrich, Lock and barrage in Wintrich, Germany

Staustufe Wintrich is a lock and barrage complex on the Moselle River that manages water flow and enables navigation for commercial vessels. The facility combines a lock chamber, dam structure, and power generation infrastructure in a single installation.

The Moselle was canalised into a regulated waterway between 1958 and 1964, and Wintrich became its 8th of 12 barrages, at river kilometre 141.4. Before that, the Wintricher Furt, a shoal with rapids and river islands between km 140.8 and 141.5, forced ships to be towed by 20 to 25 horses, often with helpers from Kesten. A sandstone relief of Saint Nicholas, patron of boatmen, was donated around 1600 at the Nikolausfels above the upper end of the ford.

The barrage serves as the eighth of twelve water control points on the main 242-kilometer stretch between Koblenz and Apach.

The lock chamber is 172 m long and 12 m wide; single vessels up to 110 m (135 m with special permission) are admitted, and push convoys up to 172.10 m. A passage takes about 19 minutes upstream and 15 minutes downstream. The lock is closed roughly 11 days a year for high water and repairs.

At river kilometre 141.2, high in a vertical rock face beside the lower harbour, a sandstone relief of Saint Nicholas of Myra, patron saint of boatmen, was donated around 1600 by a Moselle skipper. It recalls the Wintricher Furt, a dangerous shoal where 20 to 25 horses from Kesten once hauled unpowered barges upstream.