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.

It may be either vertically moving, like the ship lifts in Germany, Belgium, the lift at "Les Fontinettes" in France or the Anderton boat lift in England, or rotational, like the Falkirk Wheel in Scotland.

History

The first known boat lift was a 2.5 ton lift on the Churprinz canal near Dresden. It lifted boats 7 meters without the use of caissons. The lift operated between 1789 and 1868.Charles Hadfield "World Canals: Inland Navigation Past and Present" Page 71 ISBN 0-7153-8555-0] For a period of time after the opening of the Churprinz lift boat lifts were of an experimental nature with the engineer James Green reporting that 5 had been built between 1796 and 1830. He credited the invention to Dr James Anderson of Edinburgh.The Canals of Southwest England "Charles Hadfield" Page 104 ISBN 0-7153-8645-X] Erasmus Darwin's Commonplace Book dated 1777–1778 includes a design for a canal lift based on balanced water filled caissons on page 58-59 [ [http://www.search.revolutionaryplayers.org.uk/engine/resource/exhibition/standard/child.asp?txtKeywords=&lstContext=&lstResourceType=&lstExhibitionType=&chkPurchaseVisible=&txtDateFrom=&txtDateTo=&x1=&y1=&x2=&y2=&scale=&theme=&album=&viewpage=%2Fengine%2Fresource%2Fexhibition%2Fstandard%2Fchild%2Easp&originator=&page=&records=&direction=&pointer=&text=&resource=3996&exhibition=1109&offset=0 revolutionaryplayers.org.uk] ]

An example of these early lifts was the one constructed at Mells on the Dorset and Somerset Canal. Lifts on the tub boat section of the Grand Western Canal entered into operation in 1835 becoming the first non experimental boat lifts in Britain.The Canals of Southwest England "Charles Hadfield" Page 109 ISBN 0-7153-8645-X]

1904 the Peterborough Lift Lock designed by Richard Birdsall Rogers 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 in Belgium.

As projected, the new ship lift at the Three Gorges Dam will be even higher and able to lift vessels of up to 3,000 tons displacement.cite web
url=http://www.moafs.org/newsletter/April%202002/3gorgestats.htm
title=Three Gorges Dam
publisher=Missouri Chapter Of The American Fisheries Society
month=April | year=2002
accessdate=2008-03-11
quote=Ship lift will be a one-stage vertical lift capable of carrying a 3,000-ton passenger or cargo vessel.] However, as yet engineers have been unable to design a mechanism with the lifting power called for in the lift specifications.Fact|date=March 2008

Sources

See also

* List of boat lifts
* Lock (water transport)
* Canal inclined plane – another technique for lifting boats.
* Tub boat lift
* Caisson lock: a submerged boat lift.
* Shiplift – used for moving vessels in shipyards

Examples

* Fontinettes boat lift – Only vertical boat lift in France
* Niederfinow boat lift
* Henrichenburg boat lift
* Rothensee boat lift
* Ship lifts in China
* Saint-Louis-Arzviller boat lift, France – which is actually a canal inclined plane!
* Portable boat lift

External links

* Source mentions it own sources
* [http://www.icomos.org/studies/canals2a.htm The International Canal Monuments List]
* [http://www.moafs.org/newsletter/April%202002/3gorgestats.htm Three Gorges Dam]
* [http://www.galenfrysinger.com/big_chute_ontario.htm Big Chute, Ontario] – in fact an inclined plane
* [http://scharnebeck.relaunch.luenecom.de/dokumente/24864/Info%20English%20-%20Twin%20Ship%20Elevator.pdf Twin Ship Elevator Lüneburg] - Technical data of the Scharnebeck twin ship lift near Lüneburg, Germany
* [http://www.binnenvaartinbeeld.com/scheepsliften.htm Dutch boat lift page]