The term ship lifting is a neologism of the late 19th century; it refers primarily to mechanisms for raising watercraft vertically. We generally distinguish ship lifting by means of inclined planes (slideway, rolling bridge), locks (Sluice), and vertical elevators.
A slideway is a flat ramp over which a boat is pulled out of the water and dragged over an isthmus to the nearest waterway. The Diolkos on the Ishthmus of …