The Nieuwe Waterweg ("New Waterway") is a
ship canal in the
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 ...
from
het Scheur (a branch of the
Rhine-Meuse-Scheldt delta) west of the
town
A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city.
The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...
of
Maassluis to the
North Sea
The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Denmark, Norway, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, and France. A sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian Se ...
at
Hook of Holland
Hook of Holland (, ) is a coastal village in the southwestern corner of Holland, hence the name; ''hoek'' means "corner" and was in use before the word ''wikt:kaap#Dutch, kaap'' – "cape". The English translation using Hook is a false cognate of t ...
: the
Maasmond, where the Nieuwe Waterweg connects to the
Maasgeul. It is the artificial mouth of the river Rhine.
The Nieuwe Waterweg, which opened in 1872 and has a length of approximately , was constructed to keep the city and
port of Rotterdam accessible to seafaring
vessels as the natural Meuse-Rhine branches silted up.
[Website Rijkswaterstaat abou]
Nieuwe Waterweg
visited: 24 April 2012 The Waterway is a busy shipping route since it is the primary access to one of the busiest ports in the world, the
Port of Rotterdam. At the entrance to the sea, a flood protection system called
Maeslantkering has been installed (completed in 1997). There are no bridges or tunnels across the Nieuwe Waterweg.
History
By the middle of the 19th century, Rotterdam was already one of the largest port cities in the world, mainly because of transshipment of goods from Germany to Great Britain. The increase in shipping traffic created a capacity problem: there were too many branches in the river delta, making the port difficult to reach.
In 1863, a law was passed that allowed for the provision of a new canal for large ocean-going ships from Rotterdam to the North Sea.
Hydraulic engineer Pieter Caland was commissioned to design a canal cutting through the "Hook of Holland” and to extend the Mouth of Rhine to the sea. The designs for this were already done back in 1731 by
Nicolaas Samuelsz Cruquius but the implementation could no longer be postponed to prevent the decline of the harbour of Rotterdam.
Construction began on 31 October 1863. The first phase consisted of the expropriation of farm lands from
Rozenburg to
Hook of Holland
Hook of Holland (, ) is a coastal village in the southwestern corner of Holland, hence the name; ''hoek'' means "corner" and was in use before the word ''wikt:kaap#Dutch, kaap'' – "cape". The English translation using Hook is a false cognate of t ...
.
During the second phase two dikes were built parallel to each other, which took 2 years. Caland proposed to extend the dikes 2 km into the sea to disrupt the coastal sea currents and decrease silt deposits in the shipping lane.
Upon the completion of the dikes, the third phase began by the digging of the actual waterway. This began on 31 October 1866 and was completed three years later. The large amounts of removed soil were in turn used to reinforce other dams and dikes.
The last phase consisted of the removal of the dam separating the new waterway from the sea and river. In 1872, the Nieuwe Waterweg was completed and Rotterdam was easily accessible.
Because of the currents and erosion, the shipping lane has been widened somewhat. Yet because of the
draft of today's
supertankers, it needs to be dredged constantly.
In 1997, the last part of the
Delta Works, the
Maeslantkering, was put in operation near the mouth of the Nieuwe Waterweg. This storm surge barrier protects Rotterdam against north westerly
Beaufort Force 10 to 12 storms.
Current situation
The Nieuwe Waterweg gives the Port of Rotterdam its deep-water access to the North Sea. From Hook of Holland it stretches for approximately where the waterway continues as the
Nieuwe Maas. The very first Nieuwe Waterweg—a breach through the dunes at Hook of Holland—was only long, but in around 1877 the channel was made much larger and wider and the current Nieuwe Waterweg was created. Currently the width of the channel is between and it is dredged to a depth of below
Amsterdam Ordnance Datum.
It is this channel, together with the dredged channels in the North Sea, Maasgeul and
Eurogeul, that allows ships like the
MS ''Berge Stahl'' and
MV ''Vale Rio de Janeiro'' (both with a draught of 23 meters) to enter
Europoort.
The Dutch government agency
Rijkswaterstaat is responsible for maintaining the channel.
Maasmond
The point where the Nieuwe Waterweg enters into the North Sea, between
Hook of Holland
Hook of Holland (, ) is a coastal village in the southwestern corner of Holland, hence the name; ''hoek'' means "corner" and was in use before the word ''wikt:kaap#Dutch, kaap'' – "cape". The English translation using Hook is a false cognate of t ...
on the north bank and the
Maasvlakte to the south, is called the Maasmond. It is marked with two navigation light-towers called the Paddestoelen ("mushrooms"). The Nieuwe Waterweg connects, in the North Sea, to the
Maasgeul.
This dredged channel in the North Sea is being widened to to facilitate the largest container vessels for the new
Maasvlakte 2 that opened in 2013.
[Dredging Today]
Dutch ministry expands Maasgeul
19 February 2012. Visited: 24 April 2012
Sources and references
{{Authority control
Canals in the Netherlands
Canals in the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta
Canals in South Holland
Canals opened in 1872
Estuaries of the Netherlands
Port of Rotterdam