Schleuse Hünxe, Navigation lock in Hünxe, Germany.
Schleuse Hünxe is a lock group on the Wesel-Datteln Canal at canal kilometre 13.31, the second of the canal's six stages from the Rhine. The large chamber, built in 1923, is 222 metres long and 11.85 metres wide; the small chamber, built from 1965 to 1967, is 112 metres long and 11.62 metres wide. Both chambers are designed for a draught of 2.80 metres and together overcome a fall of 5.50 metres.
The large lock was built in 1923 with lifting gates at both ends, which were renewed in 1993. The small lock followed between 1965 and 1967, with a lifting gate upstream and a sliding gate with a gate bridge downstream. The canal itself opened in 1931, and its back-pumping plant has returned lockage water to the upper reach since then.
The lock is operated by lock keepers from on-site control stands, while the pumping station is run remotely from the waterway authority's control centre in Datteln, in service since 1984. Around 80 metres upstream of the lock stage lies the Hünxe water sports rest area, used by recreational boaters on the canal.
The lock lies at canal kilometre 13.31 of the Wesel-Datteln Canal, about 80 metres below the Hünxe water-sports rest area, which can be reached on foot along the canal bank. Both chambers are operated by lock keepers on site, so passage times depend on staffed operation. The pumping station is controlled remotely from the control centre in Datteln.
The lock's pumping station, in service since the canal opened in 1931, returns the water lost with each locking back to the upper level. Three pumps move 3,800 litres per second and one moves 5,000; at most three run at once, lifting water 5.50 metres. The pumps can also feed Rhine water towards Datteln to supply the Herne/Datteln-Münster summit reach.
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