Trough successfully hoisted for the first time at the new Niederfinow boat lift
Weighing around 10,000 tonnes when full, the trough was hoisted slowly and smoothly to its upper position for the first time – a major milestone as the lift is prepared for commissioning. Henning Schrewe, Head of Civil Germany at Implenia, who was making a site visit, was impressed: “This is an extremely demanding project of gigantic proportions. One particular challenge is to bring together the planning of all the different trades involved to build a complex structure that meets extremely tight manufacturing tolerances. Having reached this key interim goal, we are confident of getting through all the remaining tests without any problem, meaning that we should soon be able to hand over the new boat lift to the customer.”
The lift, located near Eberswalde, will operate like an elevator, using a suspended steel trough to lift boats between the lower and higher levels of the Oder-Havel canal. It does this using a vertical hoist with a counterbalance system: the water-filled trough is balanced by heavy concrete and steel weights that are attached by 224 cables running through 112 double sheaves mounted on two hollow box steel girders. Boats coming from the west move into the trough via the upper dock and canal bridge. Once the western gates is closed, the trough descends to the lower level. The eastern gates are then opened and the boat moves out into the lower canal. The process is reversed for boats travelling in the opposite direction. Once complete, the lift will be around 55 metres high and over 130 metres long.
The new structure is replacing the neighbouring smaller boat lift that was built in 1934 and which no longer meets modern requirements. The new lift will be able to cope with vessels up to 110 metres, rather than 82.5 metres, in length, as well as boats with double layers of freight. It will also be able to do the job faster: locking will take 16.5 minutes rather than 20 minutes, and the 36 metre height difference in the canal will be negotiated in three instead of five minutes. Shorter locking times mean that more boats can use the lift, which is good for the environment, too, since a modern inland cargo boat can move as much freight as up to 150 trucks on the road. The replacement boat lift will eliminate the biggest bottleneck in water-borne traffic between the Baltic and Berlin and unlock significant economic potential for the Berlin/Brandenburg region.
The project is being built by a joint venture between Implenia Construction GmbH, DSD Brückenbau GmbH, Johann Bunte Bauunternehmung GmbH & Co. KG and SIEMAG TECBERG GmbH. Implenia is technical lead manager and DSD Brückenbau GmbH is commercial lead manager.
