The new ship lift that recently opened in Niederfinow is built with steel from Dillinger. Located at the eastern end of the Oder-Havel Canal in Niederfinow in Brandenburg, it hoists ships in a suspended steel trough over a 36-meter difference in elevation from the Oder into the Havel Canal and vice versa.

The new structure was built because the old lift from 1934 had become too small for modern coaster vessels and container ships. The new system – 55 meters high, 46 meters wide and 133 meters long – dwarfs the roughly 90-year-old hoist that stands next to it. The high proportion of glass and the yellow and blue steel beams give it a much more modern appearance and it is also equipped with the latest digital technology: While lock operation in the old lift is done manually and with the push of a button, in the new construction, the lock is operated using digital technology. With its remarkable dimensions, the new lift now also allows passage of larger container ships as well as river cruise ships of up to 110 meters in length.

The overall structure is divided into the hoist with trough, the upper and lower outer harbors, and a canal bridge approximately 65 meters long. The trough itself weighs over 2,000 tons and includes a usable length of 115 meters, a width of 12.5 meters, a lifting height of 38 meters and a water depth of 4 meters. Dillinger supplied around 5,500 tons of heavy plate in thicknesses ranging from 10 to 80 mm for the trough, the cable pulley supports and the canal bridge of this spectacular structure.

Heavy plate from Dillinger has proven its value all over the world. The steel expert with centuries of experience has supplied its plates for countless major steel structures, including the gigantic Boston Flood Barrier in the UK and the spectacular Neckar Bridge. Dillinger is also a specialist in the production of heavy plate for steel pipes used in offshore wind turbines. As a major player in the energy transition, Dillinger supplies a large number of wind farms in Europe and worldwide.