At the Water Tunnel or
Trippstadts Water Supply System
I would like to point out now that the only aid
we have had so far are the sketches copied by Police Constable Paul Kallenbach
(father of the late Prof. Kallenbach) from plans we are almost certain were by
Sigmund Jakob Haecker. Mr. Kallenbach drew a plan showing the
exact courses of the tunnels and the supply system itself. Unfortunately, there
are no publications available from the time Hacke resided in Trippstadt.
I made my first acquaintance with this water
supply tunnel (situated on Judenhuebel above the Residence for the Elderly) in
Trippstadt’s underworld during a visit in October 1991.For me as an hydraulic
engineer this visit meant love at first sight for this important technically
historic construction. It awoke a great interest in me to learn more about it.
A private
research team was quickly found in the following persons:
*Professor Dr. Wolfgang Dachroth from the
Geological Institute, Heidelberg University = expert in the hydrology of the red
sandstone found in the Palatinate- who also possesses profound knowledge of
historical water supply systems.
*Dipl. Ing. Dr. Robert Rosenthal, experienced in examining geotechnical and constructional aspects.
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*Dipl. Ing. Rainer Welsch, land surveyor
We were also supported in our work by Trippstadt’s Tourist Association’
During our numerous passages through Trippstadt’s underworld we discovered a lot of minor aspects that had
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so far remained hidden. Our work took time. Prof. Dr. Dachroth and Dipl. Ing. Dr. Rosenthal spent at least 60 hours in the tunnel.Dipl. Ing. Welsch took over 40 hours to complete the surveying and I, myself, have spent more than 250 hours under ground. This piece of equipment was used to survey the tunnel construction