Niederfinow boat lift: Why a visit to the world's most modern boat lift is worthwhile

A long beep sounds and several spectators on the canal bridge pull out their mobile phone cameras. The gate that separates the bridge from the lift is opened, allowing access to the trough, which seems to float at a lofty height. To the left and right of it rises a light grey concrete giant with blue and yellow steel struts and wide glass fronts. A Polish pushed convoy slowly pushes its way inside the imposing building. The convoy, which weighs several tonnes, is about to descend 36 metres vertically. Even though it is travelling uphill.

The spectacle on offer to spectators here is a technical masterpiece. Together with the Oder-Havel Canal, which was inaugurated 110 years ago, the historic lock stairs and the Finow Canal, which is over 400 years old, the two impressive lifts in Niederfinow form a globally unique ensemble of engineering and hydraulic engineering.

New and old ship lift still running in parallel operation

The new Niederfinow Nord ship lift is a structure of superlatives. More steel was used in the 55 metre high ship lift, which cost almost 400 million euros, than in the Eiffel Tower in Paris. It was inaugurated in October 2022 after 14 years of construction. Since then, it has been operating in parallel with Germany's oldest still-active ship lift right next door. When the latter went into service exactly 90 years ago - after just eight years of construction - it was considered the largest ship lift in the world.

And even though it had to relinquish this title after 40 years, it has not lost its appeal to technology fans from all over the world to this day. It is expected to remain in operation until 2027 so that it can stand in should its successor fail. And indeed, this back-up proved to be useful, as the new hoist had to contend with a few teething troubles in its first two years and had to be readjusted several times.

The old hoist, on the other hand, has recorded just 50 days of downtime in 90 years. Even after the end of the war, it only stood idle for a few months - and not due to technical defects, but because of the lack of diesel.

More about the Niederfinow boat lift:

• Brandenburg: Giant of steel - the new Niederfinow ship lift
• Anniversary: 90 years of the Niederfinow boat lift
• New Niederfinow boat lift: First anniversary of a once-in-a-century structure

The reason for the new Niederfinow boat lift

But why was a new hoist necessary in the first place? To ensure that more goods can be transported by water in a climate-friendly way in the future, waterways and waterway structures must be designed for ever more and ever larger ships. The Havel-Oder waterway is being extensively modernised as part of the Federal Transport Infrastructure Plan 2030. In future, ships with a length of 115 metres, a width of 11.45 metres and a draught of 2.80 metres that can hold two layers of containers will be able to travel along the entire route.

The old hoist no longer met these requirements. It is too short for pushed convoys. With around 11,000 ships a year, it has reached its capacity limit. For this reason, it was decided in 1997 to build a larger new hoist. Pushed convoys with three barges can be up to 114 metres long in the new hoist. The clearance height was also increased to 5.25 metres. This means that the structure fulfils the criteria of the second highest European waterway class V. The permissible total weight is now 2300 tonnes instead of 1000 tonnes. Heavier counterweights were needed to lift the heavier trough. They weigh around 9000 tonnes, more than twice as much as the old hoist.

The "cathedral of shipping"

In engineering circles, the new ship lift is already being described as the construction of the century, even as a "cathedral of shipping". It took 16 years from the first plans in 1992 to the start of construction, and a further 14 years to the inauguration. A long way compared to the construction of its predecessor. But apart from the fact that nowadays more emphasis and consideration is placed on occupational safety and environmental protection, the technology used is also much more complex than it was 100 years ago. While five employees work each shift in the old hoist, only one person controls the automated process from the monitor in the neighbouring hoist.

How the Niederfinow boat lift works

However, the basic principle is the same: Both vertical lifts are based on the principle of weight equalisation. Ships weighing 2300 tonnes can be lifted 36 metres into the air at the touch of a button. That sounds like an enormous amount of energy. But it is not - because the trough is not actually lifted, it climbs. The principle is simple: if you tried to lift a 50-kilogram concrete block by hand, you would have to exert a lot of force. However, if you place a rope over a pulley and attach a block of the same weight to both sides so that they both float freely in the air, you can move them up and down with ease.

Only to compensate for the moments of inertia and friction losses in the pulley and cable does it need a little more power. This is provided by eight motors with 218 hp each. Large gear wheels, so-called drive pinions, which are attached to the trough, climb up and down a rack and pinion ladder on the hoist frame. So-called mother jaw columns provide safety in the event of an accident. They are slotted lengthways and have a thread inside in which a rotating bolt can move up and down. If, for example, water runs out of the trough and the equilibrium is disturbed, the rotating bolt locks in place and secures the trough so that it does not fall. 224 thick steel cables hold the trough and the counterweights, which weigh a total of 9000 tonnes. They are guided over 112 pulleys, which have a diameter of more than three metres. The weight of the trough always remains the same, regardless of whether a barge weighing several tonnes or a lone kayaker is lying in the trough. Archimedes described this principle of displacement over 2000 years ago.

16 minutes after entering, the Polish pushed convoy reaches the bottom of the valley. With the old lift, the process would have taken 20 minutes - a revolution 90 years ago. Until the inauguration of the first lift in 1934, ships still needed almost two hours to travel down the lock stairs. And only twenty years earlier, this was still considered a world sensation.

The development of hydraulic engineering in Brandenburg

The development of hydraulic engineering in Brandenburg is linked to the extraordinary conditions of the region. This is because the Eberswalde glacial valley meets the Schorfheide plateau near Niederfinow. When the glaciers retreated after the end of the last ice age, they left behind a 36 metre high jump in the terrain. The meltwater flowed towards the North Sea on one side and towards the Baltic Sea on the other. In order to connect the two river systems, people had to come up with something.

The new Niederfinow Nord boat lift is already the fourth example of this human endeavour to adapt to the circumstances. For centuries, the Finow Canal, with the dimensions of its twelve locks over 30 kilometres, determined the maximum ship size. On the Oder-Havel Canal, which was built later, a mighty lock staircase with four steps was constructed, where the difference in height was overcome in one place. At the time, this was a new world record. However, the ships still needed 20 minutes each to cover the nine metres per chamber. And the water consumption was enormous.

The first lift was therefore installed in 1934, making it possible to overcome the height difference much more economically. With more than 150000 visitors from all over the world every year, the boat lifts are one of the most important tourist destinations in Brandenburg.

Insights for visitors to the Niederfinow boat lift

This was taken into account when planning the new hoist: from the visitor walkway at a height of 40 metres, you can watch the ships being raised and lowered. Glass panes provide a view of the huge rope pulleys. The platforms offer a unique view of the Niederoderbruch landscape.

Both hoists can be visited partly on your own and further explored on guided tours and, together with the exhibition in the information centre, form an exciting ensemble of technological history. The passage on your own keel is also an extraordinary experience and free of charge. However, which of the two hoists is travelled through is left to chance and the traffic situation.

The site does not yet have guest moorings for pleasure craft. However, there are already plans for a public jetty in the lower outer harbour. If you don't want to travel with your own boat but still don't want to miss out on the experience, you can also experience the lift ride on one of the passenger ships. The boats depart several times a day from the jetty near the visitor car park. A sightseeing trip takes about an hour and costs eight euros.

The landscape

The lifts level out the difference in terrain between the glacial valley and the Barnim plateau. This is where the main watershed between the Baltic and North Seas runs. In order to connect these two river systems, an artificial waterway was needed to overcome the difference in height.

The technology

Vertical lifts are based on the principle of equilibrium. Counterweights allow the trough, which always has the same weight, to climb upwards with little effort. Due to the principle of displacement, the weight of the trough always remains the same.

The building

The new ship lift is 133 metres long, just under 46 metres wide and almost 55 metres high. The trough offers space for ships up to 110 metres long (114 metres in a pushed convoy), 11.45 metres wide and with a draught of 2.80 metres.

Evolution of hydraulic engineering

Niederfinow is home to several examples of the more than 400-year history of the construction of artificial waterways. From the Finow Canal with its twelve locks to the lock staircase with four chambers and the ship lift opened in 1934 to the most modern ship lift in Germany.