Johann Gottfried Tulla

Johann Gottfried Tulla (20 March 1770, in Karlsruhe – 27 March 1828, in Paris) was a German engineer who accomplished the straightening of the Rhine, improving navigation and alleviating the effects of flooding. His measures gave the Upper Rhine a completely new appearance. The river was deepened and channelled between embankments which narrowed the channels to a width of ; new sections were dug to straighten out its meandering course, and numerous small islands were removed. The effect was to reduce the river's length between Basel and Worms from . However, the straightening of the Upper Rhine had increased the streaming speed and thus permanently raised the flood risk in the regions of the Middle and the Lower Rhine, partial floodplain restoration is still performed in a joint program of Germany and France. Provided by Wikipedia