A damaged sluice gate on the Moselle river has drastically slowed shipping traffic on this critical inland waterway, costing shipping companies thousands. Repairs are expected to restore normal operations by February.
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00:00It's highly precise work. These steel beams are a temporary replacement for the broken sluice gate.
00:07Every time the sluice is used, they have to be hoisted in and out by crane.
00:12The gate that was here was damaged in an accident causing a traffic jam of more than 70 boats.
00:18The sluice has now become a dead end.
00:21We came up with a plan to allow these ships to pass downstream towards the Rhine.
00:26It's very labour intensive, especially in terms of personnel.
00:30Passing through here now takes three hours instead of 25 minutes.
00:35It's critical infrastructure.
00:37The Moselle River is one of Germany's most important waterways for inland shipping.
00:42A narrow 15 cm wide gap in the planks allows water to flow in and out.
00:49It's slow, but the temporary sluice saves ship operators a lot of time and money compared to going the long way round.
01:00Normally we do one load a week, so every seven days.
01:04We almost lost one transport because we had to wait five days, but that's still better than waiting three months.
01:10In that sense, we were very lucky.
01:13Each day of downtime costs shipping companies up to 3,500 euros a load.
01:19Teams of sluice keepers work around the clock just to get the ships through,
01:23while divers precisely position and bolt the beams into place.
01:31We work in zero visibility conditions.
01:34We can't see anything. We see by touch.
01:36That makes it very difficult.
01:38So instead of taking 20 seconds to insert a bolt, it might take a minute or two.
01:42And that delays everything.
01:46To complete his task, he'll now be in the water for two hours.
01:53I've been doing this for 25 years, so the excitement isn't as big anymore.
02:01The sluice is expected to be repaired and fully functional again by early February,
02:06allowing traffic to flow quickly through the Moselle once more.
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