 As part of a German re-unification transport project the Elbe aqueduct was completed after a 60 year delay, however two shaft locks were built instead of the proposed Hohenwarthe lift.For 60 years, therefore, the Rothensee lift, which was originally intended to allow passage just from the Mittellandkanal to the Elbe carried all the navigation traffic from the West German industrial centres to West Berlin.In 2001 the parallel Rothensee ship lock which allows the passage of bigger ships was completed making the lift redundant.