Boat lift

Boat Lift

	Email		Print
	Bookmark		Link

Boat lift

A boat lift, ship lift, or lift lock is a machine for transporting boats between water at two different elevations, and is an alternative to the canal lock and the canal inclined plane

Canal inclined plane

An inclined plane is a system used on some canals for raising boats between different water levels.Typically, such a feature consists of a slope, up which there are two sets of rail tracks....
.

It may be either vertically moving, like the ship lifts in Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium, and the Netherlands....
, Belgium

Belgium

* A small German-speaking Community of Belgium exists in eastern Wallonia. Belgium's linguistic diversity and related political and cultural conflicts are reflected in the history of Belgium and a complex Communities and regions of Belgium....
, the lift at "Les Fontinettes

Fontinettes Boat Lift

The Fontinettes Boat Lift was built in the late 19th century in Arques, Pas-de-Calais, near Saint-Omer in the Pas-de-Calais to connect the Aa River and the Neufoss? canal in France....
" in France

France

France , officially the French Republic , is a country whose Metropolitan France is located in Western Europe and that also comprises various Overseas departments and territories of France....
or the Anderton boat lift

Anderton Boat Lift

The Anderton Boat Lift near the village of Anderton, Cheshire, in north-west England provides a vertical link between two navigable waterways: the River Weaver and the Trent and Mersey Canal....
in England

England

Falkirk Wheel

The Falkirk Wheel is a rotating boat lift connecting the Forth and Clyde Canal with the Union Canal . It is named after the nearby town of Falkirk in central Scotland....
in Scotland

Scotland

conventional_long_name = ScotlandAlba|common_name= Scotland|image_flag = Flag of Scotland.svg|flag_width = 130px...
.

first known boat lift was a 2.5 ton lift

Tub boat lift

Tub boats are small boats used to transport coal and other minerals, sometimes working singly, sometimes in long trains. When it is required to move them between different elevations of canal, Locks , boat lifts and Canal inclined plane have all been used in various locations around the world....
on the Churprinz canal near Dresden

Dresden

Discussion

Ask a question about 'Boat lift'

Start a new discussion about 'Boat lift'

Answer questions from other users

Full Discussion Forum

History

The first known boat lift was a 2.5 ton lift

Tub boat lift

Dresden

Dresden is the capital city of the Germany Federal Free state of Saxony. It is situated in a valley on the River Elbe. The Dresden conurbation is part of the Saxon triangle metropolitan area....
. It lifted boats 7 meters without the use of caissons. The lift operated between 1789 and 1868. For a period of time after the opening of the Churprinz lift boat lifts were of an experimental nature with the engineer James Green

James Green (engineer)

James Green was a noted civil engineer and canal engineer, who was particularly active in the South West of England, where he pioneered the building of tub boat canals, and inventive solutions for coping with hilly terrain, which included tub boat lifts and canal inclined plane....
reporting that 5 had been built between 1796 and 1830. He credited the invention to Dr James Anderson of Edinburgh. Erasmus Darwin

Erasmus Darwin

Erasmus Darwin , was an England physician, natural philosopher, physiologist, abolitionist, inventor and poet. He was one of the founder members of the Lunar Society, a discussion group of pioneering industrialists and natural philosophers....
's Commonplace Book dated 1777–1778 includes a design for a canal lift based on balanced water filled caissons on page 58-59

An example of these early lifts was the one constructed at Mells on the Dorset and Somerset Canal

Dorset and Somerset Canal

The Dorset and Somerset Canal was a proposed canal in the south west of England. The main line was intended to link Poole, in Dorset with the Kennet and Avon Canal near Bradford on Avon, Wiltshire....
. Lifts on the tub boat section of the Grand Western Canal

Grand Western Canal

The Grand Western Canal ran between Taunton in Somerset and Tiverton, Devon in Devon in the United Kingdom. The canal had its origins in various plans, going back to 1796, to link the Bristol Channel and the English Channel by a canal, bypassing Lands End....
entered into operation in 1835 becoming the first non experimental boat lifts in Britain.

1904 the Peterborough Lift Lock

Peterborough Lift Lock

The Peterborough lift lock is a boat lift located on the Otonabee River in the city of Peterborough, Ontario, Canada and is Lock 21 on the Trent-Severn Waterway....
designed by Richard Birdsall Rogers

Richard Birdsall Rogers

Richard Birdsall Rogers was a Canada civil engineer and mechanical engineer whose most significant achievement was the design of the Peterborough Lift Lock, a boat lift at Peterborough, Ontario, Canada....
opened in Canada. The lift system is operated by gravity alone, with the upper bay of the two bay system loaded with an additional 30 cm of water as to give it greater weight.

The world's still highest boat lift, with a 73.15 metre height difference and European Class IV (1350 tonne) capacity, is the Strépy-Thieu boat lift

Strépy-Thieu boat lift

The Str?py-Thieu boat lift lies on a branch of the Canal du Centre in the municipality of Le R?ulx, Hainaut , Belgium. With a height difference of between the upstream and downstream reaches, it is the tallest boat lift in the world, and will remain so until the Three Gorges Dam boat lift in China is finished....
in Belgium

Belgium

Three Gorges Dam

The Three Gorges Dam is a hydroelectricity river dam that spans the Yangtze River in Sandouping, Yichang, Hubei, China. It is the List of the largest hydroelectric power stations in the world....
will be even higher and able to lift vessels of up to 3,000 tons displacement. However, as yet engineers have been unable to design a mechanism with the lifting power called for in the lift specifications.

**Notable lift locks — ordered by size**
location	displacement	dimensions	vertical lift	cycle time
Three Gorges dam, China Three Gorges Dam The Three Gorges Dam is a hydroelectricity river dam that spans the Yangtze River in Sandouping, Yichang, Hubei, China. It is the List of the largest hydroelectric power stations in the world....	3000 tons	280 x 35 meters x 5 metres	113 metres	30-40 minutes (under construction)
Krasnoyarsk hydroelectric dam, Russia Krasnoyarsk hydroelectric dam The Krasnoyarsk hydroelectric dam, located on the Yenisey river about upstream from Krasnoyarsk in Divnogorsk, was finished in 1964 and supplies 6000 MW of power, mostly used to supply the KrAZ ....	1500 tons	80 x 17 meters x 1.86 metres	104 metres
Strépy-Thieu, Le Rœulx, Belgium Strépy-Thieu boat lift The Str?py-Thieu boat lift lies on a branch of the Canal du Centre in the municipality of Le R?ulx, Hainaut , Belgium. With a height difference of between the upstream and downstream reaches, it is the tallest boat lift in the world, and will remain so until the Three Gorges Dam boat lift in China is finished....	1350 tons	112 x 12 metres x 3.35 metres	73.15 metres	7 minutes
Scharnebeck, Lüneburg, Germany Scharnebeck twin ship lift The Scharnebeck twin ship lift is on the Elbe-Seitenkanal, which connects the Elbe and the Midland Canal .The boat lift was built in Scharnebeck to the North-east of L?neburg in 1974 and was at that time the largest ship lift in the world....	1350 tons	105.4 x 15.8 x 3.4 metres	38 metres	3 minutes
Peterborough, Ontario, Canada Peterborough Lift Lock The Peterborough lift lock is a boat lift located on the Otonabee River in the city of Peterborough, Ontario, Canada and is Lock 21 on the Trent-Severn Waterway....	1300 tons	42.7 x 10.1 x 2.1 metres	19.8 metres	10 minutes
Kirkfield, Ontario, Canada Kirkfield Lift Lock The Kirkfield Lift Lock is a boat lift located in the city of Kawartha Lakes, Ontario, Canada, near the village of Kirkfield, Ontario. It forms the Lock 36 of the Trent-Severn Waterway, situating at the highest section of the canal ....	1300 tons	42.7 x 10.1 x 2.1 metres	14.9 metres	10 minutes
Rothensee, Germany Rothensee boat lift The Rothensee boat lift is North of Magdeburg and connects the Mittellandkanal with the Elbe via the Abstiegskanal Rothensee....	1000 tons	85 x 12.2 x ? metres	16 metres	20 minutes
Falkirk Wheel, Scotland, UK Falkirk Wheel The Falkirk Wheel is a rotating boat lift connecting the Forth and Clyde Canal with the Union Canal . It is named after the nearby town of Falkirk in central Scotland....	600 tons		35 metres	4 minutes
Henrichenburg, Waltrop, Germany Henrichenburg boat lift The Henrichenburg boat lift facilitates a change in elevation of the Dortmund-Ems-Kanal in Waltrop-Oberwiese. The boat lift is part of the Waltrop Lock Park , which includes the old Henrichenburg boat lift built in 1899, a disused shaft lock from 1912, the new boat lift built in 1962 and a modern ship lock from 1989....	600 tons	67 x 8.2 x 2 metres	14 metres	25 minutes
Danjiangkou dam, China	450 tons
Geheyan dam, China Geheyan dam The Geheyan Dam is a large dam on the Qingjiang, a tributary of the Yangtze River, in Hubei Province, People's Republic of China.Design work on the dam began in 1987....	300 tons
Longtan dam, China Longtan dam The Longtan Dam is a large dam on the Hongshui River, a tributary of the Pearl River .The dam, at 216.2 meters when completed, is said to be the tallest concrete dam in the world....	250 tons	40 x 10.8 x 1.8 metres	68.5 metres	claimed to be the "fastest ship-lift in the world"
Anderton boat lift, UK Anderton Boat Lift The Anderton Boat Lift near the village of Anderton, Cheshire, in north-west England provides a vertical link between two navigable waterways: the River Weaver and the Trent and Mersey Canal....	250 tons	22.9 x 4.7 x 2.9 metres	15.25 metres
Canal du Centre, France Lifts on the old Canal du Centre The lifts on the old Canal du Centre are a series of four hydraulic boat lifts near the town of La Louvi?re in the Sillon industriel of Wallonia, classified both as Wallonia's Major Heritage and as a World Heritage Site? ....			17 metres
Fontinettes, France Fontinettes Boat Lift The Fontinettes Boat Lift was built in the late 19th century in Arques, Pas-de-Calais, near Saint-Omer in the Pas-de-Calais to connect the Aa River and the Neufoss? canal in France....			13 metres	90 minutes
Niederfinow, Germany Niederfinow boat lift The Niederfinow boat lift is the oldest extant boat lift in Germany. It lies on the Oder-Havel-Kanal near Niederfinow in Brandenburg. The lift overcomes a difference in elevation of 36m....		85 x 12 x 2.5 metres	36 metres	20 minutes

External links

Source mentions it own sources

– in fact an inclined plane
Canal inclined plane

An inclined plane is a system used on some canals for raising boats between different water levels.Typically, such a feature consists of a slope, up which there are two sets of rail tracks....
- Technical data of the Scharnebeck twin ship lift
Scharnebeck twin ship lift

The Scharnebeck twin ship lift is on the Elbe-Seitenkanal, which connects the Elbe and the Midland Canal .The boat lift was built in Scharnebeck to the North-east of L?neburg in 1974 and was at that time the largest ship lift in the world....
near Lüneburg
Lüneburg

L?neburg, also known as Lueneburg and Lunenburg in English language, is a city in the Germany Bundesland of Lower Saxony. The city is located about 45 km — a thirty-minute train ride — southeast of fellow Hanseatic League city Hamburg....
, Germany
Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium, and the Netherlands....

Boat lift

History

See also

External links