Siphon weir - Erbsenbach / Vienna Sievering

A flood spillway was to be developed for a flood retention basin. Due to the limited space available, it was decided to use a siphon weir, which was tested in model experiments in 1962.

The Erbsenbach flows from the Wienerwald to the city of Vienna in an open channel. In the city area beginning at the border of Vienna the river runs in a closed channel, which allows a maximum volume of 14 m³/s to pass through.


Since much larger discharges can occur, a reduction of the inflow to the maximum flow capacity of the closed channel is necessary. This is ensured by a retention basin upstream of the closed channel section. A siphon weir serves as a flood spillway. The siphon weir was the focus of physical model carried out at the Institute.

drawing of the siphon weir

Physical model of the siphon weir, scale 1 to 12.5

The dam of the flood control reservoir with bottom outlet (lower opening) and siphon for spillway (upper opening), photographed on June 26, 2022 (60 years after the model test).

Coordinates from Google Maps for the dam: 48.26181105545917, 16.30283657051867

Direct link: Google Maps