The Canal through Zuid-Beveland (Dutch: ''Kanaal door Zuid-Beveland'') in the southwest

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

is the westernmost of two

canal Canals or artificial waterways are waterways or engineered channels built for drainage management (e.g. flood control and irrigation) or for conveyancing water transport vehicles (e.g. water taxi). They carry free, calm surface ...

s crossing the Zuid-Beveland peninsula. It connects the

Western Scheldt The Western Scheldt ( ), in the province of Zeeland in the southwestern Netherlands, is the estuary of the Scheldt river. This river once had several estuaries, but the others are now disconnected from the Scheldt, leaving the Westerschelde as ...

near Hansweert (to the south of the canal) via a

lock Lock(s) or Locked may refer to: Common meanings *Lock and key, a mechanical device used to secure items of importance *Lock (water navigation), a device for boats to transit between different levels of water, as in a canal Arts and entertainme ...

complex and the Eastern Scheldt (to the north) with which it has an open connection.

History

Planning for faster and more reliable route between the Port of Antwerp and the

Rhine The Rhine ( ) is one of the List of rivers of Europe, major rivers in Europe. The river begins in the Swiss canton of Graubünden in the southeastern Swiss Alps. It forms part of the Swiss-Liechtenstein border, then part of the Austria–Swit ...

began with

Napoleon I Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career ...

, but this planning was interrupted by the declaration of the

Kingdom of the Netherlands The Kingdom of the Netherlands (, ;, , ), commonly known simply as the Netherlands, is a sovereign state consisting of a collection of constituent territories united under the monarch of the Netherlands, who functions as head of state. The re ...

in 1815, and by the

Belgian Revolution The Belgian Revolution (, ) was a conflict which led to the secession of the southern provinces (mainly the former Southern Netherlands) from the United Kingdom of the Netherlands and the establishment of an independent Kingdom of Belgium. The ...

in 1830, issues which took precedence over the development of a new waterwater. With the Treat of London in 1839, which recognized the independence of

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

, provisions were included that dealt with cooperation between the Netherlands and Belgium concerning how shipping between Antwerp and the Rhine would be handled; the Netherlands was obligated to keep a connection open between the two. The planning for a new canal through Zuid-Beveland began anew when in the late 1850s, the Netherlands decided to build the Roosendaal–Vlissingen railway, which necessitated the damming of the only two inland connections between the Western Scheldt and the Eastern Scheldt: the Kreekrak and the

Sloe ''Prunus spinosa'', called blackthorn or sloe, is an Old World species of flowering plant in the rose family, Rosaceae. It is locally naturalized in parts of the New World. The fruits are used to make sloe gin in Britain and patxaran in Ba ...

. Construction began on the ''Kanaal door Zuid-Beveland'' stretching between Wemeldinge and Hansweert in 1863 and the canal was inaugerated on October 15, 1866. The canal's traffic quickly grew, and another navigation lock apiece were added at each end to reduce congestion in 1872, and yet another lock was added in 1916 at Hansweert and one at Wemeldinge in 1928. Even as far back as the 1920s, Belgium had begun seeking a more direct route and more modern canal between Antwerp in the Rhine. Belgium and the Netherlands negotiated for decades over the location and specifications of a new canal, and in 1963 the Scheldt-Rhine Canal began construction which was opened in 1975. However, the Canal through South Beveland remained as a secondary route for tall ships which could not navigate under the lift gates of the Kreekraksluizen and the fixed bridges over the Scheldt-Rhine Canal. It was decided in 1976 to modernize this canal, as well, which included widening it, replacing the old locks at Hansweert with modern ones, and abandoning in place the locks at Wemeldinge, since the agreement with Belgium specified that there could only be three locks between Antwerp and the Rhine. The new locks at Hansweert were opened December 2, 1987 and the reconstruction of the northern end of the canal - which relocated the entrance further east - was completed in 1993. The abandonment of the locks at Wemeldinge left the water level of the canal subject to the tides of the Eastern Scheldt, though these had been reduced by the Eastern Scheldt storm surge barrier, especially to the level of the tides in the Western Scheldt.

Connections

The canal is crossed by the Postbrug (which carries ), a railroad bridge (which carries the Roosendaal–Vlissingen railway), and the (which carries the A58 motorway). In addition, there are two small road bridges built on rollers (one over the southern end of the western lock chamber, and one over the northern end of the eastern lock chamber) which are used by pedestrians, cyclists and horseman.

Amenities

At Wemeldinge, the abandoned middle lock was filled in, but the locks on either side were transformed into a

marina A marina (from Spanish , Portuguese and Italian : "related to the sea") is a dock or basin with moorings and supplies for yachts and small boats. A marina differs from a port in that a marina does not handle large passenger ships or cargo ...

: the Jachthaven Wemeldinge.

Gallery

File:Location Kanaal door Zuid-Beveland.PNG, The route of the Canal through Zuid-Beveland File:Railway bridge over the Canal through Zuid-Beveland.jpg, Railroad bridge over the Canal through Zuid-Beveland File:Kanaal Zuid-Beveland.jpg, Canal through Zuid-Beveland (south side), showing entrance to the locks

External links

Canal through Zuid-Beveland - Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management

References

{{reflist Canals in the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta Canals opened in 1866 1866 establishments in the Netherlands Canals in Zeeland Transport in Reimerswaal Kapelle Zuid-Beveland 19th-century architecture in the Netherlands