Binger Hole

The Binger Loch is a man-made hole in a natural barrier of rocks in the Rhine, at kilometer point 530.8 in Germany. The intention of this is to enable smooth and safe passage for inland vessels.
The hard quartzite rock originally lay across the entire river, so even small ships from the Middle Ages could not pass here and had to unload. The Romans had already attempted to make the river navigable at Bingen, but they did not have the right techniques for it. Only after the invention of gunpowder was a navigable breakthrough forced in the 17th century, at the initiative of merchants from Frankfurt, approximately 4 meters wide. Sufficient for the passage of many ships from the fleet of that time. The rock obstructed the river. Upstream, the water level dropped after the hole was made. This resulted in, among other things, that of the 32 islands upstream, only 6 remain. Three islands have been washed away, and the others have become connected to the mainland. King Frederick William III of Prussia deemed in 1832 that the hole needed to be widened, and from 1830 to 1841 it was widened with explosives to about 23 meters, later in 1894 to about 30 meters. With the widening and deepening, a significant improvement in navigation was achieved.

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