 It is one of the heaviest-used locks in Germany, with a daily average of 107 commercial vessels passing through in 2003 and 30 million shipping tonnes per year.The chambers of the double lock have usable areas of 24 x 270 m. The lock is open for passage 24/7/365 and shuttles ships up or down with a water exchange rate of 165 m³/s per chamber, achieving a rise or fall of 1.5 m per minute.The lock retains at least 3.5 m water depth during normal low-water conditions.