About the project
36 meters height difference in about three minutes: That's what the new Niederfinow boat lift on the Oder-Havel Canal in Brandenburg can do. The new trough will be able to transport inland vessels with a total length of 110 meters and weighing up to 2,300 tons. On October 4, 2022, the ship lift will officially go into operation after 14 years of construction.
Together with partners, KREBS+KIEFER first carried out a feasibility study for Germany's largest ship lift and then took over the structural design. The sister company IRS Stahlwasserbau Consulting AG was responsible for the design planning of the steel construction and mechanical engineering as well as for the execution planning of the mechanical engineering for the construction consortium. The client for the new ship lift was the Berlin Waterways Construction Authority. The new ship's hoist Niederfinow Nord replaces the old ship's hoist, which had been in operation since 1934 and was once considered to be the largest ship's hoist in the world.
The colleagues from KREBS+KIEFER and IRS Stahlwasserbau Consulting are now pleased to have been nominated for the German Engineering Award 2024 - as one of a total of six projects. The State Prize is considered the most important award for civil engineers in Germany. It is awarded to exemplary engineering structures or engineering services that "demonstrate particular innovation and design quality, demonstrate exemplary handling of the restoration of historical engineering solutions, and make a positive contribution to the design of public space. The focus is on high-quality and resource-conserving projects," according to the jury.
Sustainability aspects shipping
In solving transport and environmental problems, the sustainable development of waterways as environmentally friendly transport routes is increasingly in focus. It is true that ship engines have high emissions, as they are not operated with the eco-friendliest fuels. However, calculated in tonnages of transport goods, these are lower than in truck transport. By way of comparison: to transport 10,000 tonnes of ore from Rotterdam to Duisburg, an inland waterway vessel (pushed convoy of four) consumes around 12,000 litres of fuel. If the same amount of cargo were to be transported by lorry, 370 lorries would have to be used and about 30,000 litres of fuel would be consumed.
Environmental organisations such as the German Federation for the Environment and Nature Conservation (BUND Bund für Umwelt- und Naturschutz Deutschland) say that by investing in the maintenance and upgrading of the existing canal network, it would be possible to significantly strengthen inland navigation without additional intervention in the river landscape. This would considerably improve the economic navigability on the inland waterway network and the use of suitable ship sizes.
