For exactly 50 years, the Elbe Side Canal has linked the River Elbe at Lauenburg with the Mittelland Canal. The 115-kilometre-long waterway relieves pressure on shipping on the River Elbe and connects Hamburg to the industrial regions of West Germany. Today, the canal – popularly known as the ‘Heide-Suez’ or the ‘Heide-Highway’ – is at once an important transport route, an engineering monument and a tourist attraction.
On 15 June 1976, the Elbe Side Canal was opened after eight years of construction. The new waterway through the Lüneburg Heath provides a direct link between the Elbe near Lauenburg and the Mittelland Canal west of Wolfsburg. For inland waterway transport, this meant a shorter route between Hamburg and Magdeburg and an alternative to the route along the Elbe, which was subject to fluctuating water levels.
But the start was a bumpy one: just over a month after it was opened, a dam burst near Adendorf, and millions of cubic metres of water flooded the surrounding countryside. It was only after almost a year of repairs and the reinforcement of critical sections that the canal was reopened to shipping. Since then, it has become the central east–west axis of the northern inland waterway network – and a technical landmark with great recreational value.
Shortcut and alternative to the Elbe
The decision to build the Elbe Side Canal was taken on 15 September 1965, and construction began on 6 May 1968. The aim was to create a link between Hamburg and the industrial regions of West Germany that was independent of the water level of the Elbe, whilst at the same time boosting the economically disadvantaged peripheral area.
Since it opened, the canal has shortened the journey from Hamburg to Magdeburg by 33 kilometres compared with the route via the Elbe. Stretching 115 kilometres in length and 53 metres in width, it connects the Elbe at Lauenburg with the Mittelland Canal and, through it, with the economic regions of Lower Saxony and North Rhine-Westphalia.
According to the Federal Waterways and Shipping Administration, around 15,000 vessels use the waterway each year, as measured at the Uelzen lock. They transport around ten million tonnes of goods annually. Following the opening of the inner-German border, traffic has increased noticeably, and the inland ports of Lüneburg, Uelzen and Wittingen are also recording more calls than in the early years.
The collapse of the dam and the reconstruction: A difficult start
Just 33 days after it opened, disaster struck on 18 July 1976: in the municipality of Adendorf near Lüneburg, the canal embankment burst at a road underpass. Millions of cubic metres of water poured into the surrounding area, flooding fields and forests.
The damage has necessitated extensive repairs and reinforcement work at other critical points. Traffic on the canal has been suspended for almost a year; only then will the waterway be reopened to shipping.
The breach of the dam left a lasting mark on the still-young canal, whilst at the same time ensuring the long-term safety of the structures. Today, the route is regarded as an important and well-established part of the North German waterway network.
‘Heide Highway’ for barges and recreational boaters
In everyday parlance, the Elbe Side Canal is also known as the ‘Heide-Suez’ or the ‘Heide-Highway’ – nicknames that perfectly capture its character as a thoroughfare through the Lüneburg Heath. As well as commercial shipping, numerous recreational boaters also use the canal with their yachts.
The construction of the canal, which began in 1968, left behind numerous quarry lakes along its route. These bodies of water have become popular destinations for day trips in the region. Gravel paths run along their banks, which are ideal for cycle rides and help to make the waterway accessible to tourists.
To the south of the Uelzen lock, a path approximately 4.5 kilometres long features information boards explaining topics such as hydropower, how a lock works and the natural water cycle. The canal thus also becomes a place where technical infrastructure and environmental education come together.
The Elbe Side Canal has to climb 61 metres in altitude
Between the Elbmarsch and the higher-lying Mittelland Canal, the route involves a climb of 61 metres. This is achieved via two striking structures: the Uelzen lock and the Scharnebeck ship lift near Lüneburg.
The Uelzen lock bridges a height difference of 23 metres. Following a sharp rise in traffic volumes, it was extended with a new structure at the end of 2006. The new chamber, measuring 190 metres in length and 12.5 metres in width, is one of the largest locks for inland waterway vessels in Germany and alleviates a major bottleneck on the route.
A lift for ships: the Scharnebeck lift
The Scharnebeck ship lift achieves the greatest vertical lift. In two troughs, ships and water are raised or lowered by 38 metres, much like in a lift. The troughs are 100 metres long and 12 metres wide, and are suspended by 240 steel cables connected to counterweights.
The journey through the ship lift itself takes about three minutes; a ship takes a total of around 15 minutes to pass through the facility. The ship lift was inaugurated in 1974 and was considered the world’s largest ship lift at the time of its opening. Of the total construction costs of 1.7 billion marks for the Elbe Side Canal, 152 million marks were spent on this facility.
Following the partial opening of the canal between the Elbe and the Port of Lüneburg, the first ship passed through the lift on 5 December 1975. Today, the structure is a very popular tourist attraction: around 500,000 visitors come each year to watch the lift in operation from viewing platforms, visit an exhibition or take a barge ride through the lift themselves.
Larger locks for the Elbe Side Canal
Looking to the future, planners anticipate a further increase in freight volumes and larger ships on the Elbe Side Canal. The expansion of the Uelzen lock is already a response to this trend.
Discussions are therefore underway in Scharnebeck regarding an additional, larger lock to complement the existing lifting facility. At present, only vessels with a maximum length of 100 metres can be lifted there. The planned new facility is intended to have a usable length of 225 metres, which would make it the largest inland waterway lock of its kind in Germany.
According to the plans, the facility is due to come into operation in 2050. This would ensure that the Elbe Side Canal remains equipped to handle larger vessels in the second half of the century and further consolidates its role as a major inland waterway.
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Jill Grigoleit
Editor Travel