Fwd: Fw: The Madeburg Water Bridge

[Yuvarasu]

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Siew-Yong Lim <tnj...@yahoo.com>
Date: Thu, Aug 11, 2011 at 2:21 PM
Subject: Fw: The Madeburg Water Bridge
To: Ding Lee Sing <arupb...@yahoo.com>, kokkong chin <kokkon...@yahoo.com.sg>, Yuvarasu OAR <yuva...@gmail.com>

 The Incredible Magdeburg Water Bridge in Germany

The Magdeburg Water Bridge is a navigable aqueduct in Germany that connects the Elbe-Havel Canal to the Mittelland Canal, and allows ships to cross over the Elbe River. At 918 meters, it is the longest navigable aqueduct in the world.

The Elbe-Havel and Mittelland canals had previously met near Magdeburg but on opposite sides of the Elbe. Ships moving between the two had to make a 12-kilometer detour, descending from the Mittelland Canal through the Rothensee boat lift into the Elbe, then sailing downstream on the river, before entering the Elbe-Havel Canal through Niegripp lock. Low water levels in the Elbe often prevented fully laden canal barges from making this crossing, requiring time-consuming off-loading of cargo.

Construction of the water link was started as early as in the 1930s but due to the World War 2 and subsequent division of Germany the work remained suspended till 1997. The aqueduct was finally completed and opened to the public in 2003.

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Thanks & Regards
Yuvarasu