Page 26 - Hafen Hamburg | Broschüre | Port of Hamburg Magazine 4.2020

■ INFRASTRUCTURE PORT
Just a few metres separate the old ship lifts and the new lock
The world’s highest water-saving lock
Where Germany’s infrastructure is concerned, superlatives are freely bandied about. To cater for inland waterway shipping to and from the Port of Hamburg, the Federal Waterways and Shipping Authority- WSV is having a fascinating structure built: Luneburg Lock.
The ship lifts at Scharnebeck on the Elbe Lateral Ca- nal already attract tourists in large numbers. A fur- ther magnet for the public will soon be added: The world’s highest lock of this design. Ships actually need to surmount a height difference here of 38 me- tres. The lock will also be more than twice the length of the ship-lift troughs. A length of 225 metres and breadth of 12.50 metres will allow even the largest inland waterway craft to fit into these. Since the troughs are currently only 100 metres long, that is at present a problem. To be able to use the ship lifts
just now, pusher trains, for example, need to be elaborately marshalled.
INLAND WATERWAY SHIPPING GROWTH
For the Port of Hamburg’s hinterland traffic, this pro- ject heralds the future. Shippers are using more and more inland waterway vessels for transport to and from the Port of Hamburg. The totals are set to rise further – as desired by the Federal government. The master plan for inland waterway shipping foresees up to 23 percent growth in traffic volume between
26 | Port of Hamburg Magazine | December 2020
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