Porąbka Dam – View of Lake Międzybrodzkie loop from Porąbka

02:29

40.3km

440m

Mountain biking

Moderate mountain bike ride. Good fitness required. Suitable for all skill levels. The starting point of the route is accessible with public transport.

Last updated: June 30, 2026

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Park Krajobrazowy Beskidu Małego

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1.19 km

Porąbka Dam

Highlight • Monument

The dam in Porąbka, on the Sola River, looks both impressive and elegant. In the interwar period, when it was created, it was considered the pinnacle of technological advancement. The future president of the Republic of Poland, Gabriel Narutowicz, worked on the design of the dam. It was built with enormous effort to prevent catastrophic floods in the Soła Valley. After World War II, a small hydroelectric power plant was built at the dam.
Works were supposed to start in 1914, but World War I thwarted these plans.
The subject of construction returned immediately after its completion. The dam design was consulted with Gabriel Narutowicz, the creator of the dam on the Aar River in Mühlenberg, Switzerland. The narrowing between the Żaru and Zasolnica massifs was chosen as the site of the Soła dam. Construction began in 1921. However, due to scarce funds, it was repeatedly discontinued. Soła was also not idle and was destroying the effects of human efforts. The work started again from the hoof in 1934. The project was supervised by an outstanding specialist - engineer Jerzy Skrzyński. The company Frankopol was building. For the purposes of the investment, a small power plant was opened nearby. The latest technological achievements were used - e.g. waterproof cement from Goleszów. 2,500 workers and several hundred juniors passed through the construction site. The dam is 260 m long and 37.4 high; throughput - 1690 cubic meters. The capacity of the Międzybrodzkie Lake was calculated at 32.2 million cubic meters. The cost of the project was over PLN 20 million at that time! The construction site was visited by President Ignacy Mościcki himself. The opening ceremony in December 1936 was attended, among others, by Deputy Prime Minister Eugeniusz Kwiatkowski and Cardinal Adam Sapieha. In the 1950s, a hydroelectric power plant was commissioned at the dam. Currently, it has a capacity of 12.6 MW.
zabytkitechniki.pl/culturalheritage/3129/zapora-w-porabce
porabka.net/budowa-zapory.html

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