Germany’s General Directorate for Waterways and Shipping (GDWS) has formally commissioned the new Gleesen lock on the northern Dortmund-Ems Canal, the first of five planned replacements.
The new chamber entered operational use in October 2025. It was handed over to the operating authority, WSA Westdeutsche Kanäle, on October 24, and the first vessels passed through on October 27.
The chamber has a usable length of 140 metres and a width of 12.5 metres, accommodating oversized large motor cargo vessels measuring 135 metres by 11.45 metres. Its lift height is 6.37 metres and sill depth is 4 metres.
A water-saving basin north of the chamber is designed to receive about half the water released during emptying and return it when the lock is filled.
The old and new large locks operated in parallel for six weeks. Project authority WNA Datteln reported in March 2026 that the old lock had been taken out of service, while residual work at Gleesen continued.
Remaining works, including partial removal of the old large lock and work in the foreports, were expected to continue until 2027 under the project authority’s October 2025 schedule.
The replacement programme covers Bevergern, Rodde, Venhaus, Hesselte and Gleesen. It is intended to provide consistent, larger chamber dimensions along the northern canal section.
The Rheine lock staircase extends over about 29 kilometres, with six locks overcoming a combined rise of about 29 metres. Altenrheine, modernised in 1974, is excluded from the replacement programme.
Gleesen’s replaced large lock was built in 1914. The site’s listed small lock, built in 1898, is to be partly filled and retained under the project plans.