Log flume

Built: 2011 (reconstruction from the 19th century)

In Austria, the so-called log flumes – natural or artificially built chutes – in which the wood could slip down to the valley had been in use since the middle ages.

They were in wide use particularly in the 18th and 19th century. According to construction and log type being carried by the flume, there were different forms. The simplest form is the earth flume, an artificially constructed earth flume made of natural hollows.

The log flumes were of importance where large wood piles had to be transported to a certain place within a short period of time. The log constructed flume was made of ridges, the slide chute and the flume ”throw“. The form of construction of the ridges, which provided for the compensation of the incline depended on the terrain conditions. The chute consisted of the flume “mouth”, the fan-shaped opening of the flume where the wood was inserted. The log flume itself was the chute and consisted of fans with 6-8 pieces of wood composed in semi-circle chutes. The flume “throw” and the end of the flume had an upward shape that had the function of decelerating, slowing down, and then throwing the large piece of wood clear of the flume.

With the means of water flumes the wood was transported in chutes. If there was not enough water, a dam structure had to be constructed.