Initial situation

Between the opening-up of the Espenhain opencast mine in 1937 and its closure in 1996, a total of 1,710 million m³ of spoil had been moved and 570 million tonnes of lignite mined; the excavations went through a number of villages, which involved the resettlement of 8,200 people. The project of the opencast site's rehabilitation is being sponsored by LMBV and is based on a plan of working. The area affected by mining in the centre of the Leipzig lowland basin will now become the site of a lake and woodland landscape. The reclamation and recultivation of the Espenhain large opencast mine covers an area of 3,793 hectares. Rehabilitation will reshape the former opencast mine so that it can satisfy a range of different uses.

Approach

Giant equipment was used in the period between 1994 and 2004 to shape the future shore of the lake and the dike between the lakes. This work involved considerable resources; giant mining equipment was used to move, for example, 56 million m3 of soil, and a further 26 million m³ was moved in the course of landscaping with grading and mobile earthmoving equipment. The rehabilitation and recultivation work coordinated by LMBV has facilitated the realisation of new after use potentials. These included the building of an embankment for what was to become the A 38 autobahn south of Leipzig. The flooding of the future Störmtaler Lake began in 2001, and since 2003 imported water has been flowing into the Markkleberger Lake, while nearby, some 680 hectares of forest and 50 hectares of agricultural land are taking shape.

Result

The reclamation of the former Espenhain opencast mine has meant the creation of two new landscaped lakes with a surface area of about 1,000 hectares in the completely new landscape that is developing organically in the new Leipzig Lakeland. It includes the A38 autobahn, the new Störmthaler See and Markkleeberger Lakes, and most importantly, the city-near lakeshore areas, and the white water sport area built by the canoe sport club and the City of Markkleeberg. The city-near Markkleeberger Lake with its 272 hectares is now almost completely filled, and could already be handed over to the City of Markkleeberg for after use in 2007. The flooding of the 733-hectare Störmthaler Lake with 158 million m3 of water is planned to continue until 2011.