The new ship lift of Niederfinow was planned as a replacement for the old ship lift. The rack-and-pinion drive system with counterweights and rotating bars in an inside-thread column as chamber locking mechanism were maintained.

The ship lift system is composed of the main components of ship lift, downstream lock gate with secondary gate, canal bridge, upstream lock gate, abutment and safety gate, upstream outer harbour, downstream outer harbour with connection to Hohensaaten barrage.

Scope of planning:
- Chamber and powerhouses
- Chamber gates
- Gap water device
- Anti-collision cable system, upstream and downstream lock end
- Counterweight system with double cable sheaves, counterweight catching frame, cable weight compensation chain
- Chamber drive with rack-and-pinion and ladder
- Chamber holding device
- Chamber locking device with rotating bar and inside-thread column
- Chamber longitudinal and transversal guides
- Safety gate with cable drive

Technical data (planning):
- Chamber with a usable length of 115 m and a usable width of 12.5 m
- Chamber weight with filling = 9800 t
- Lifting height = 36 m
- Travel time = 3 min
- Drive capacity: 8 electrical motors with 160 kW each