Webcam Ship lock in Brunsbuttel
Brunsbüttel (German: Brunsbüttel) is a town in Germany, in Schleswig-Holstein, located at the western exit of the Kiel Canal.
It is part of the district of Ditmarschen. It has a population of 13,120 (December 31, 2010) and covers an area of 65.24 km².
Brunsbüttel is home to the shipping locks between the Elbe estuary and the Kiel Canal.
The old locks at the North Sea mouth of the Kiel Canal in Brunsbüttel were built in 1887 - 1895, during the construction of the Kiel Canal. The locks on the canal were built to maintain a constant water level in the canal, independent of the tides in the Baltic Sea.
The old locks have two parallel lock chambers in which ships can lock at the same time. The walls of the locks are made of brick and have metal double-leaf gates. The water level in the North Sea can be either above or below the water level in the channel, so each head of the lock has two double-leaf gates that open in different directions. One or the other gate can be used depending on the tide level in the Baltic Sea.
Floating pontoons are installed along the walls of the lock chambers for easy mooring of ships. Small ships can moor directly to the pontoons.
Larger vessels are moored to fixed bollards on the lock, and it may be necessary to etch or eject the moorings when the water level in the lock changes.
Filling and emptying of the lock chambers is done by means of two galleries running from the sides of each lock chamber, connected to the chamber by 12 openings.
Dimensions of lock chambers:
Usable length: 125 meters
Useful width: 22 meters
