The Magdeburg Water Bridge is a water aqueduct located in Germany. It connects the Elbe and Havel rivers (the Elbe-Havel Canal) with the Inland Canal. It allows the flow of ships along the Elbe.
The two canals (Elbe-Havel and Inland) used to meet in the Magdeburg area on the opposite side of the Elbe. In order for the ships to move from one canal to another, they had to make a 12-kilometre detour. In addition, the low level in the Elbe caused problems in unloading the goods. These are two main reasons for the construction of this aqueduct.
The first ideas for connecting the two waterways were developed in 1919 and 1938. After the outbreak of World War II, the project was postponed and was not resumed until 1997. The project itself took 6 years to complete and cost 500 million Euros. 24,000 tons of steel and 68,000 cubic meters of concrete were used for the construction. Its length of 918 metres (690 metres above ground and 228 metres above water) makes it the longest aqueduct in the world, 34 metres wide and 4.25 metres deep.
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