The Scharnebeck twin ship lift is a boat lift in Scharnebeck, northeast of Lüneburg, in the District of Lüneburg, Lower Saxony, Germany. It is on the Elbe Lateral Canal, which connects the Elbe (northern and lower endpoint, at Artlenburg) and the Mittellandkanal (southern and upper endpoint, near Wolfsburg), and is one of two constructions on the canal that overcomes the height difference between the canal endpoints, the other being a lock further south at Uelzen.
The Scharnebeck twin ship lift was built in and was at that time the largest ship lift in the world. The first ship passed through the lift on 5 December 1975. There is a museum at the site.
Technical data Design: double counterweight lift Construction cost: 152 million Deutsche Mark Vertical lift: max. (depending on the water level of the Elbe) Trough size: usable length x usable width x water depth Gate safety: The catch ropes at the trough gates reduce the usable length of the trough by . Total weight of the trough filled with water: Total moving weight of a trough, the water contained, and associated parts: approx. Weight of one counterweight of which there are 224 per trough: approx. , giving a total of per trough Dimensions of one counterweight: Thickness of the steel cables: Source of power: Per trough, 4 electric motors of each, giving a total of Time taken to lift or lower a trough: 3 minutes Time taken to pass through the lift: 15–20 minutes Visitors per year: approx. 500,000
See also Schiffshebewerk Scharnebeck, article on the German-language WikiPedia from which this article had been translated List of boat lifts Strépy-Thieu boat lift, Le Rœulx, Belgium Peterborough lift lock, Ontario, Canada Falkirk Wheel, Scotland, United Kingdom Anderton boat lift, Anderton, United Kingdom
Further reading
External links
Description of the lift