Leobersdorf Aqueduct

The Aquädukt Leobersdorf is a protected structure of Vienna’s water supply system. It carries the first high-level spring-water pipeline across the Triesting valley on the edge of Leobersdorf, west of the South motorway in Lower Austria. The building also enjoys protection under the Hague Convention for the safeguarding of cultural property in armed conflict. Built between 1870 and 1873, the aqueduct stretches about 1 065 metres and shows 22 visible arches with segment spans of 9.48 metres each. Beneath the embankment lie 134 more arches, giving a total height of roughly 8.9 metres. The open arches reach about five metres clear above the valley floor. In 1871 the Vienna city council ordered a full inspection of all completed sections; the enquiry report recommended demolishing the five finished arches over the Triesting, yet confirmed the soundness of the remaining 135 arches. The structure follows a gentle S-curve where it is left open, its stonework clad in ashlar blocks. The rest of the piers are built from rubble masonry, while the vaults are brick with ashlar facings. At the southern end stands Einstiegsturm 30. Eight hundred metres north of the main river crossing the pipeline passes over the Triesting flood channel, completed between 1924 and 1930, which is controlled by a sluice at Enzesfeld. A separate two-arched aqueduct carries the same water line across the channel.