Beautiful section with fine white gravel along the Cologne Randkanal (Widdersdorf). Very good and quick to drive.
Source Wikipedia (April 2020):
The canal is mainly used to drain the Rhenish brown coal mines near Frechen. In addition, it supports the drainage of the Rhein-Erft district and collects the treated wastewater from the sewage treatment plants in Pulheim, Frechen, Hürth and the Cologne districts of Esch, Auweiler, Pesch and Widdersdorf. The city of Dormagen and Ineos Köln in Cologne-Worringen have direct discharge rights. Today, the southernmost part of the southern edge canal at the old sewage treatment plant in Hermülheim only absorbs rainwater during heavy rain.
Treated wastewater from the parts of Cologne further east and the Rhein-Erft district is drained through the southern receiving water to the Rhine near Rodenkirchen. With the southern receiving water, the wastewater ring around the Cologne city area on the left bank of the Rhine is closed.[1]
In addition to discharging treated wastewater from municipalities in the Bay of Cologne, the edge canal has also been used to protect against flooding on the Erft since it was renovated in 2010-2015. Through a weir near the Horrem-Götzenkirchen district of Kerpen, the Erftflutkanal can be partially dammed and appropriate amounts of water can be diverted into the feed channels to the Götzenkirchen pumping station and through the Ville tunnel into the edge canal and thus into the Rhine.