Nidelva

Nidelva (or Nidelven) is a river in the county Sør-Trøndelag, Norway. Elva or Elven is Norwegian for 'the river', so the name translates to "The River Nid".

Location

Nidelva starts at the Hyttfossen waterfall which rises from Bjørsjøen, a small lake located just below Selbusjøen, the largest lake in Sør-Trøndelag County. Nidelva runs via Tiller and at the end through the city of Trondheim before reaching the Trondheimsfjord by the island of Brattøra near Trondheim Central Station. Nidelva is at its deepest at Trongfossen, a deep ravine in the village of Klæbu. There are six hydro-electric power stations along the river. The tributary river that empties into Selbusjøen is called Nea. Nidelva forms the last part of the Nea-Nidelv watershed.

Nidelven has its very own song, Nidelven Stille og Vakker du er ("Nidelven [how] Still and Beautiful you are"). The popular waltz was written by Norwegian composer Oskar Hoddø (1916–1943). According to tradition, Hoddø wrote the waltz about the Nidelva River one night in late April 1940 while he was standing at Gamle Bybro in Trondheim.

Nidelva (Aust-Agder)

Nidelva in Aust-Agder is the main river in the Arendal drainage basin. It is formed by the confluence of two rivers, Nisserelva and Fyreselv. The river flows into the Skagerrak at Arendal. The total length of the system is 210 kilometres (130 mi), the watershed covers 4,000 square kilometres (1,500 sq mi). Sixteen hydro-electric power stations are built along the river, making this one of Norway's most controlled drainage systems.

Salmon can be found 22 kilometres (14 mi) up the river, where the Evenstad power station is located. At Rygene, the average waterflow is 110 cubic meters per second (m³/s), but the highest recorded was in the autumn of 1987, with 1200 m³/s.

Gallery

View of the River Nid by John William Edy

View of the River Nid by John William Edy

References