Garzweiler surface mine

Garzweiler mine

Panoramic view of Tagebau Garzweiler
Location
Garzweiler mine
Country Germany
Coordinates 51°03′15″N 6°30′35″E / 51.05417°N 6.50972°E / 51.05417; 6.50972Coordinates: 51°03′15″N 6°30′35″E / 51.05417°N 6.50972°E / 51.05417; 6.50972
Production
Products Lignite
Owner
Company RWE
Lignite mines in North Rhine-Westphalia

The Tagebau Garzweiler is a large surface mine (German: Tagebau) in the German state of North-Rhine Westphalia. It is operated by RWE and used for mining lignite.[1] The mine currently has a size of 48 km² and got its name from the village of Garzweiler which previously existed at this location. The human settlement was moved to a same named section of Jüchen.

The open-pit mine

Bucket wheel excavators in Garzweiler surface mine

The mine is located west of Grevenbroich and exploitation is progressing towards Erkelenz. Mining was originally limited to the 66.0 km² area Garzweiler I located east of motorway A 44. Mining in the 48.0 km² Garzweiler II sector started in 2006 and it will take until around 2045 to fully exploit both sectors. The lignite is used for power generation at nearby power plants such as Neurath.

Traffic

Motorways A 44 and A 61 crossing the planned mine area are also affected. The A 44 was closed in 2005, dismantled in 2006 and traffic rerouted to the widened A 61 and A 46 motorways. From 2017 onwards the A 61 will be closed and traffic diverted to a newly built A 44.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Tagebau Garzweiler.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Barry, John (2002). International Encyclopedia of International Politics. Taylor & Francis. p. 216. Retrieved 2013-05-26.

External links


This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Tuesday, July 14, 2015. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.