Elbe Lateral Canal

The Elbe Lateral Canal , is a 115-kilometre long canal in Lower Saxony, Germany. It runs from the Mittelland Canal near Gifhorn to the Elbe in Artlenburg. It forms an important transport connection between southern and northern Germany, and it provides a bypass of a section of the Elbe with limited navigability. At the construction start it was also thought as a bypass outside the GDR, considered politically unreliable.

Construction of the Elbe Lateral Canal was started in 1968, and the canal was opened in June 1976. Due to a dam rupture, it was closed from July 1976 until June 1977. The difference in elevation between the Mitteland Canal and the Elbe is 61 metres , which is overcome by a 23-metre lock at Uelzen and the Scharnebeck twin ship lift, a 38-metre boat lift at Scharnebeck. There are small ports along the canal in Lüneburg, Uelzen and Wittingen, and a landing stage at Wulfstorf .

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