- Source: Artificial whitewater
An artificial whitewater course is a site for whitewater canoeing, whitewater kayaking, whitewater racing, whitewater rafting, playboating and slalom canoeing with artificially generated rapids.
Course types
Main types of course:
= Flow diversion
=These work by diverting a natural river through boulder placement or damming, or by creating new channels next to an existing river, possibly by a weir or power station outflow.
= Tidal action
=Created in estuaries with large tidal reaches, on a barrage across the river. The barrage is opened during a rising high tide to allow the sea water in, then shut as the tide turns. The water stored above the barrage is then forced through an artificial channel to provide water features.
= Pumped
=The nature of artificial whitewater courses necessitates the need for a drop in the river, and enough water flow to provide hydraulics. When this isn't possible (often in flat low-lying areas), electric pumps are used to lift and re-circulate the water to the top of the course. The shapes of these courses are commonly circular or U-shaped.
Pumped courses are extremely expensive to run, typically 1-2 megawatts of electrical power are needed to pump 15 cubic metres per second of water down a course with a 5-meter drop in height.
= Altered Riverbed
=These courses are created in existing natural river channels, but are enhanced with strategic placement of new rocks, boulders, or concrete structures. Some are downstream of river or channel wide dams and therefore have some level of flow optimization, others are subject to seasonal flows.
Olympic whitewater courses
1972 - Augsburg Eiskanal in Augsburg, Germany — flow diversion
1992 - Segre Olympic Park in La Seu d'Urgell, Spain — flow diversion/pumped
1996 - Ocoee Whitewater Center near Copperhill, Tennessee, United States — altered riverbed
2000 - Penrith Whitewater Stadium, near Sydney, Australia — pumped
2004 - Hellinikon Olympic Canoe/Kayak Slalom Centre, Athens, Greece — pumped
2008 - Shunyi Olympic Rowing-Canoeing Park, Beijing, China — pumped
2012 - Lee Valley White Water Centre, London, England — pumped
2016 - Deodoro Olympic Whitewater Stadium, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil — pumped
2021 - Kasai Canoe Slalom Centre, Tokyo, Japan — pumped
2024 - Vaires-sur-Marne Nautical Stadium, Vaires-sur-Marne, France — pumped
2028 - Riversport Rapids Whitewater Center, Oklahoma City, United States
Other notable courses
Adventure Sports Center International in McHenry, Maryland, United States — pumped
Canolfan Tryweryn near Bala, Gwynedd, North Wales — natural flow modifications
Cardington Artificial Slalom Course near Bedford, England — flow diversion
Dickerson Whitewater Course in Dickerson, Maryland, United States — pumped
Dutch Water Dreams in Zoetermeer, Netherlands — pumped
Holme Pierrepont in Nottingham, England — flow diversion
U.S. National Whitewater Center, near Charlotte, North Carolina, United States — pumped
Nene Whitewater Centre in Northampton, England — pumped
Rutherford Creek in British Columbia, Canada — flow diversion
Tacen Whitewater Course near Ljubljana, Slovenia — flow diversion
Tees Barrage International White Water Course in Stockton-on-Tees, England — converted from tidal to pumped in 2010/2011
Čunovo Water Sports Centre near Čunovo, Slovakia — flow diversion
Canal de aguas bravas, Zaragoza, Aragon, Spain
Wadi Adventure in Al Ain, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates — pumped
Under planning or construction
References
External links
Hydrostadium, constructor of most Olympic whitewater courses.
Wadi Adventure, UAE.
Kata Kunci Pencarian:
- Artificial whitewater
- Canoe slalom
- List of artificial whitewater courses
- U.S. National Whitewater Center
- Whitewater kayaking
- Kayak
- Andrew McAuley
- Holme Pierrepont National Watersports Centre
- South Bend, Indiana
- Outline of canoeing and kayaking
