The upper reaches of the Rhine River consist of the pre-Rhine River and the post-Rhine River. The pre-Rhine River originated from Lake Toma, which is located in the middle of the Swiss Alps, near the mouth of the Alps. The post-Rhine River originated in the southeast near the border between Switzerland and Italy. After the two sources meet, they flow northward, out of the Alps, forming the boundary rivers between Switzerland and Liechtenstein, Switzerland and Austria, and then flowing into Boden Lake at the junction of Switzerland, Austria and Germany. After leaving the lake, the Rhine flows westward, forming the boundary river between Switzerland and Germany. At the junction of Switzerland, Germany and France, Basel (Switzerland) turns north. Above Basel is the upper reaches of the Rhine. The upper reaches flow through mountainous areas with steep slopes, and there are many canyons on both sides. These rivers are mainly replenished by alpine snow and alpine glaciers. Snow and ice melt the most in summer, forming a high water level, and the water level is lower in other seasons. The reach from Basel to Bonn is the middle reaches of the Rhine. The Rhine River below Basel is the boundary river between Germany and France, from Basel to Bingen. The river runs through the Rhine geosyncline, 300 kilometers long and 40 kilometers wide. The river is curved, and the riverbed slope is not big. It accepts neckar (a tributary) and Mainz (a tributary) in Mannheim. From Bingen below Mainz to Bonn, the Rhine River flows through the Rhine Valley, which narrows the river surface and increases the flow speed. The green hills on both sides are sandwiched in the middle, and the canyon is deep and winding, with beautiful scenery, just like the "Three Gorges" in China. The middle reaches are of Zhongshan type, with a large amount of water when it melts in spring, and sometimes there are spring floods. Below Bonn, the Rhine River enters north german plain, and the current is gentle. On the right bank, tributaries such as Ruhr River and Lipper River flow in. After entering the Netherlands, it is divided into several branches to form a delta. The whole Rhine River basin is rich in precipitation, and the downstream is mainly replenished by rainwater. Due to the uniform seasonal distribution of precipitation in north german plain, there is a little more rain in autumn and winter, so the downstream reaches are full of water all the year round, with stable water volume and high water level in autumn and winter. The average annual discharge of the estuary is 2500 second cubic meters.
The Rhine River flows through economically developed areas in Europe, which is of great shipping value. It is the main traffic artery of coastal countries and an important seaport of Switzerland. The navigation mileage of Rhine River below Basel is 886 kilometers. During the flood season, ships of 1500 tons can reach Basel. 2000-ton ships can pass under Strasbourg; Below Mannheim, 5000-ton ships can pass; A 7000-ton ship can reach Cologne from the estuary. Important tributaries can also be navigable. On the Neckar River, 1350-ton European standard ships can pass below Stuttgart. The main river can pass1500t ships from below Bamberg; The water transport network in the Moze River and Ruhr area can run European standard ships. The Rhine River is connected with nearby rivers through canals, forming a river traffic network extending in all directions. The important canals are: the Mann-Rhine canal connecting the Rhine River and the Seine River; Rhone-Rhine canal, connecting Rhone and Rhine rivers, forming a water transport trunk line running through western Europe in the north-south direction; Dortmund-Ames Canal connects the canal system in Ruhr with Ames River, which not only makes Ruhr go to sea on the north side of Ames River, but also connects with the East-West Central Canal, and connects the Rhine River with the shipping of Weser River, Elbe River and Oder River, forming a water transport network to eastern Germany, Poland and Czech Republic.
The Rhine is of great significance to the German economy. The Rhine is 866 kilometers in Germany, all of which are navigable. The territory of China13 belongs to the Rhine River basin, and the population of China12 lives here. The waterway network extending in all directions of the Rhine River accounts for 60% of the national waterway freight volume. After the Rhine waterway regulation, Germany has realized a unified national trunk and tributary waterway network. After channelization, the river bottom is 40-50 meters wide and the water depth is 2.5-2.9 meters. After channelization, the 1.350-ton Eurostandard mobile barge can be unimpeded, and large cargo ships can sail directly into the main stream and tributaries of the Rhine River from the sea without repeated loading and unloading. In recent years, Germany has made great efforts to modernize its ships and adopted flat-bottomed cargo ships (pushing fleets) propelled by catamarans. The maximum capacity of a group of pusher fleet can reach10.5 million tons at a time, and the pusher can be flexibly grouped with barges, with higher utilization rate than ordinary tugboats. The advanced inland shipping system is not only safe and energy-saving, but also greatly reduces the freight. Inland river freight rates in Germany are railway transportation 1/3 and road transportation 1/7. Cheap traffic conditions and convenient access to the sea in all directions make the banks of the Rhine River a "geomantic treasure house" for entrepreneurs to invest and build factories. In the past 30 years, 450 new factories have been built along the coast, among which 66 of the 92 enterprises of the German iron and steel monopoly group are concentrated in the coast. Germany's famous industrial zone is located on the Rhine River. Among the cities with a population of more than 500,000, seven cities, including Cologne, Essen, Frankfurt, Dortmund, Dü sseldorf, Stuttgart and Duisburg, are located on the Rhine River or its tributaries and banks.
There are many ports along the Rhine. The port of Rotterdam at the estuary is the largest seaport in the world and the largest shipping seaport on the Rhine River. Duisburg Port is the largest inland river port in Europe. In addition, Mannheim, Cologne, Mainz, ludwigshafen and Strasbourg are all important river ports in the mainstream.
Due to the intensive industry, developed agriculture, numerous cities and concentrated population on both sides of the Rhine River, a large amount of industrial and domestic wastewater and waste poured into the river, causing extremely serious pollution, making the Rhine River once known as "the largest sewer in Europe". According to a scientific survey, there are only 1 species on the surface of the Rhine River per 1 m2, and all the original eels, sturgeons, herrings and salmon have disappeared. This river is no longer drinkable. At the end of 1960s, Germany began to harness the Rhine River, and successively built more than 100 sewage treatment plants, so that more than 60% of industrial sewage and domestic sewage discharged into the Rhine River were treated. 198 1 year, countries along the Rhine River reached an agreement on the prevention and control of pollution in the Rhine River, stipulating that mineral salts in 1 10,000 tons of river water should be eliminated every year. In recent years, with the pollution of the Rhine being basically controlled, the water quality of the Rhine has been significantly improved and fish have resumed growth. However, recently, due to an accident at a chemical plant in Basel, Switzerland, a large number of toxic chemicals leaked into the Rhine River and were seriously polluted again.