Bypass pumping project Cologne Rand Canal

Buitenkamp, a Dutch pump rental company, currently has an interesting bypass pumping project north of the German city of Cologne. Four electrically driven BBA high volume pumps with a total of 800 kW motor power guarantee a bypass capacity of 3 m³/sec during work on the Cologne Rand Canal.

The Cologne Rand Canal is an almost twenty-kilometer concrete drainage route running along the Western suburbs of Cologne. The canal connects to the river Rhine and is mainly used for the drainage of water from a brown coal mine, excess rainwater and treated sewage.


More than fifty years after the construction of the canal, the cement base has become porous, causing water to drain away. The main contractor Weiss GmbH has been commissioned to make the base watertight by means of a special coating. During this work, the water is bypassed over a length of 750 meters using a temporary pumping installation.

The temporary pump installation operates completely autonomously and consists of four frequency controlled electric BA400G D540 pumps which automatically speed up and slow down. Depending on the amount of incoming water, the vacuum-assisted 16" inch pumps start up independently from each other. "During a short period of heavy rainfall, we pumped more than 14,000 m³/hour with the motors at 55 Hz." Confirmed Bertus Rossing, owner of Buitenkamp Pompenverhuur B.V.