Construction work began in January 1999 on a new lock for the Charlottenburg district of Berlin, which will extend waterway links between the German towns of Hanover, Magdeburg and Berlin. Contractor is Noell Stahl und Maschinenbau, part of the Preussag Noell group.

The decision to build the lock was taken by the German government in 1991, as part of the ‘Traffic Projects for German Reunification’ programme. Noell won the DM6.15M contract, beating eight other bidders, in December 1998.

The new lock will be 115m long and 12.5m wide and will be located to the north of the existing facility. It is due for completion in the third quarter of 2001.