__NOTOC__ The Sihlsee (in English sometimes called ''Lake Sihl'') is an

artificial lake A lake is often a naturally occurring, relatively large and fixed body of water on or near the Earth's surface. It is localized in a basin or interconnected basins surrounded by dry land. Lakes lie completely on land and are separate from t ...

in the

Swiss Swiss most commonly refers to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Swiss may also refer to: Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina * Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses * Swiss Café, an old café located ...

canton of Schwyz The canton of Schwyz ( ; ; ; ) is a Cantons of Switzerland, canton in central Switzerland between the Swiss Alps, Alps in the south, Lake Lucerne to the west and Lake Zürich in the north, centred on and named after the town of Schwyz. It is one ...

, near the town of Einsiedeln. The lake was created by damming the river

Sihl The Sihl is a Switzerland, Swiss river that rises near the Druesberg mountain in the canton of Schwyz, and eventually flows into the Limmat in the centre of the Zürich, city of Zürich, after crossing the Zürich–Winterthur railway at . It has ...

and flooding a section of the upper

Sihl Valley Sihl Valley ( German: ''Sihltal'') is a river valley and belongs to the Zimmerberg-Sihltal region located in the Horgen (district), district of Horgen in the canton of Zurich, Switzerland. Commonly ''Sihltal'' is used as the name of the Lower Sihl ...

. The lake feeds the , which is located to the north-east in Altendorf on the upper section of

Lake Zürich Lake Zurich (, ; ) is a lake in Switzerland, extending southeast of the city of Zurich. Depending on the context, Lake Zurich or can be used to describe the lake as a whole, or just that part of the lake downstream of the Hurden peninsula and ...

(the ''Obersee'') and which supplies electricity to the

Swiss Federal Railways Swiss Federal Railways (, SBB; , CFF; , FFS) is the national railway company of Switzerland. The company was founded in 1902 and is headquartered in Bern. It used to be a State-owned enterprise, government institution, but since 1999 it has be ...

(SBB). Its concrete

dam A dam is a barrier that stops or restricts the flow of surface water or underground streams. Reservoirs created by dams not only suppress floods but also provide water for activities such as irrigation, human consumption, industrial use, aqua ...

is high and m long. The lake is the largest artificial lake of Switzerland in terms of surface with a maximum length of and maximum width of . The maximum depth is , and the lake has an approximate volume of . The power plant project started in 1932. A concrete dam and two viaducts over the lake were built before 1937 when the valley was flooded. As a result 107 farms disappeared completely and 1762 persons had to leave their homes. A failure of the dam could lead, according to studies, to an high flood wave through the lower

reaching the

Altstadt ''Altstadt'' () is the German language word for "old town", and generally refers to the historical town or city centre within the old town or city wall, in contrast to younger suburbs outside. '' Neustadt'' (new town), the logical opposite of ...

of the city of

Zürich Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...

, the biggest city in Switzerland, within 2 hours. This threat has led the City of Zürich to develop, publish and test evacuation plans for the affected areas of the city, and especially the area around Zürich Hauptbahnhof railway station.

Gallery

File:Sihlsee Fluebrig.jpg, Sihlsee with

Fluebrig The Fluebrig (2,098 m) is a mountain massif of the Schwyzer Alps, located east of Unteriberg in the canton of Schwyz Schwyz (; ; ) is a town and the capital of the canton of Schwyz in Switzerland. The Federal Charter of 1291 or ''Bundesbri ...

behind File:Sihlsee IMG 2807.JPG, The northern shore

References

External links

*
Information about the Sihlsee
{{Authority control Lakes of the canton of Schwyz Reservoirs in Switzerland LSihlsee Sihl