Donut Fenders delivered for river lock at Langwedel, Germany

The lock Langwedel is one of numerous locks along river Weser in Northern Germany. It is operational since 1958 and has a lock chamber of 215 m length, 12.36 m width and 11.50 m depth. Its maximum rise is 5.5 m and it is used by inland vessels and pleasure crafts. 

As part of the improvement program of the inland waterway system in Germany, the lock is currently undergoing substantial rehabilitation and modernization works. These works include the replacement of the original guide walls, berths and dolphins. The construction works are executed by Johann Bunte, a contractor from Papenburg and will last until mid-2020. The scope of works includes the installation of new mooring dolphins as well as the waiting positions in front of the lock.

In the past, the lock Langwedel was operated with steel guide walls which required costly maintenance. Therefore, the client carried out a 3 year trial operation with ShibataFenderTeam Donut Fenders at river Weser. The trial showed clearly that the Donut Fenders require far less to no maintenance compared with the old guide wall systems. Based on this result, the client decided to use Donut Fenders for the modernization works of lock Langwedel.

16 Donut Fenders were manufactured at ShibataFenderTeam’s production location in Germany. They have a diameter of 2.2 m and are 4.4 m high and were manufactured to fit to a pile diameter of 1.2 m.

By offering foam fender production in Germany with short delivery times for local projects, ShibataFenderTeam is well positioned on the market.

The video below shows the installation process of one of the Donut Fenders. Thank you Johann Bunte for sharing it with us.

📷 More pictures about Donut Fenders in Langwedel can be found in our reference section