The Waal (

Dutch Dutch or Nederlands commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands ** Dutch people as an ethnic group () ** Dutch nationality law, history and regulations of Dutch citizenship () ** Dutch language () * In specific terms, i ...

name, ) is the main

distributary A distributary, or a distributary channel is a stream channel that branches off and flows a main stream channel. It is the opposite of a ''tributary'', a stream that flows another stream or river. Distributaries are a result of river bifurc ...

branch of the river

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 ...

flowing approximately through 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 ...

. It is the major waterway connecting the port of

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , ; ; ) is the second-largest List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city in the Netherlands after the national capital of Amsterdam. It is in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland, part of the North S ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. Before it reaches Rotterdam, it joins with the

Afgedamde Maas The Afgedamde Maas (; Dammed-up Meuse) is a former distributary of the Meuse, Maas River (French: Meuse) in the Netherlands, Dutch Provinces of the Netherlands, provinces of North Brabant and Gelderland. The Maas splits near Heusden with one chan ...

near

Woudrichem Woudrichem (; Brabantian: ''Woerkum'') is a city and former municipality in the province of North Brabant in the Netherlands. History Woudrichem originated in the ninth century. A marketplace emerged on a riverbank where Hoogstraat and Mol ...

to form the

Boven Merwede The Boven Merwede (; "Upper Merwede") is a stretch of river in the Netherlands, mainly fed by the river Rhine. The Afgedamde Maas river joins the Waal at Woudrichem to form the Boven Merwede, which at Hardinxveld-Giessendam splits into the Bene ...

. Along its length,

Nijmegen Nijmegen ( , ; Nijmeegs: ) is the largest city in the Dutch province of Gelderland and the ninth largest of the Netherlands as a whole. Located on the Waal River close to the German border, Nijmegen is one of the oldest cities in the ...

Tiel Tiel () is a Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality and a town in the middle of the Netherlands. The town is enclosed by the Waal (river), Waal river and the Linge river to the South and the North, and the Amsterdam-Rhine Canal to the Eas ...

Zaltbommel Zaltbommel (), also known, historically and colloquially, as Bommel, is a municipality and a city in the Netherlands. History The city of Zaltbommel The town of Zaltbommel was first mentioned as "Bomela" in the year 850. Zaltbommel received ...

and

Gorinchem Gorinchem ( ), pronunciation respelling, also spelled Gorkum, is a city and municipality in the western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland. The municipality covers an area of of which is water. It had a population of in . The munici ...

are towns of importance with direct access to the river. The river, which is the main channel in the

Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta The Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta is a river delta in the Netherlands formed by the confluence of the Rhine, the Meuse () and the Scheldt rivers. In some cases, the Scheldt delta is considered a separate delta to the Rhine–Meuse delta. The resu ...

system, carries 65% of the total flow of the Rhine.

History

The name Waal, in

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

times called ''Vacalis, Vahalis'' or ''Valis'', later ''Vahal'', is of Germanic origin and is named after the many

meander A meander is one of a series of regular sinuous curves in the Channel (geography), channel of a river or other watercourse. It is produced as a watercourse erosion, erodes the sediments of an outer, concave bank (cut bank, cut bank or river cl ...

s in the river (). It is, in turn, thought to have inspired early Dutch

settler A settler or a colonist is a person who establishes or joins a permanent presence that is separate to existing communities. The entity that a settler establishes is a Human settlement, settlement. A settler is called a pioneer if they are among ...

s of the

Hudson Valley The Hudson Valley or Hudson River Valley comprises the valley of the Hudson River and its adjacent communities in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. The region stretches from the Capital District (New York), Capital District includi ...

region in

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

to name the

Wallkill River The Wallkill River, a tributary of the Hudson River, Hudson, drains Lake Mohawk (New Jersey), Lake Mohawk in Sparta, New Jersey, Sparta, New Jersey, flowing from there generally northeasterly U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset ...

after it (''Waalkil'' "Waal

Creek A creek in North America and elsewhere, such as Australia, is a stream that is usually smaller than a river. In the British Isles it is a small tidal inlet. Creek may also refer to: * Creek people, a former name of Muscogee, Native Americans * C ...

"). The current river shows little signs of these great bends, since it has been the subject of numerous normalisation projects carried out between the 18th and 20th centuries to improve the river as an economically important shipping route. Some of the cut-off bends are still visible near the main river and are sometimes reconnected to it in times of high water levels.

Bend in South Holland

In the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

, the name "Waal" continued after the confluence with the

Meuse The Meuse or Maas is a major European river, rising in France and flowing through Belgium and the Netherlands before draining into the North Sea from the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta. It has a total length of . History From 1301, the upper ...

. The delta parts now known as Boven Merwede,

Beneden Merwede The Beneden Merwede (; "Lower Merwede") is a stretch of river in the Netherlands, mainly fed by the river Rhine. It starts as the continuation of the Boven Merwede river, Boven Merwede after the branching-off of the Nieuwe Merwede ship canal. It f ...

and the upper section of the

Noord Noord () is a town and region in Aruba (part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands). This town is known for its low rise and high rise hotels, restaurants, beaches, malls, the California Lighthouse, and other places of attraction. Places of interes ...

were also called Waal. Near

Hendrik-Ido-Ambacht Hendrik-Ido-Ambacht () is a town and municipality in the western Netherlands. It is located on the island of IJsselmonde, and borders with Zwijndrecht, Ridderkerk, and the Noord River (with Alblasserdam and Papendrecht on the other side). T ...

, the mainstream continued west until it flowed into

Oude Maas The Oude Maas (; ) is a distributary of the river Rhine, and a former distributary of the river Maas, in the Dutch province of South Holland. It begins at the city of Dordrecht where the Beneden Merwede river splits into the Noord and the O ...

near

Heerjansdam Heerjansdam () is a village in the western Netherlands, in the municipality of Zwijndrecht, Netherlands, Zwijndrecht, South Holland. It has a population of 3,590. History It was originally called "''Heren Heyenland''", a name which first appeare ...

. This last stretch past Hendrik-Ido-Ambacht, which separated the

river islands A river is a natural stream of fresh water that flows on land or inside caves towards another body of water at a lower elevation, such as an ocean, lake, or another river. A river may run dry before reaching the end of its course if it run ...

of IJsselmonde and Zwijndrechtse Waard, is still called Waal, but is more commonly known as

Waaltje The Waaltje (common name; Dutch for Little Waal) is a dammed river in the western Netherlands, southeast of Rotterdam. Historically it used to be the western end of the Waal river, hence its official name continues to be the Waal, although the inte ...

(Dutch for ''Little Waal''). It has been dammed off at both ends, making the Zwijndrechtse Waard part of IJsselmonde.

River crossings

Road bridges

Showing nearest town: *

Waalbrug The Waalbrug is an arch bridge over the Waal River in Nijmegen, Gelderland, the Netherlands. The full length of the Waalbrug is , the middle of the arch being about high. The arch itself is long and was the longest arch in Europe at the time of ...

. *

De Oversteek ''De Oversteek'' (The Crossing), also called ''Stadsbrug'' (City Bridge), is a road bridge over the river Waal in the Netherlands. Opened in 2013, it is situated immediately to the west of Nijmegen city centre. The bridge has four traffic lanes, ...

, Nijmegen. *,

Ewijk Ewijk is a village in the Dutch province of Gelderland. It is a part of the municipality of Beuningen, and lies about 9 km west of Nijmegen. The river Waal runs in the north. Ewijk was a separate municipality until 1980, when it was merged ...

. *,

Beneden-Leeuwen Beneden-Leeuwen is a town in the Dutch province of Gelderland. It is a part of the municipality of West Maas en Waal, and lies about 7 km east of Tiel, on the opposite (southern) bank of the river Waal. Beneden-Leeuwen has 6,925 inhabitants ...

. * replaced the ,

Rail bridges

Showing nearest station on the left and right bank: *

Nijmegen railway bridge The Nijmegen railway bridge () is a truss bridge spanning the River Waal in the Netherlands, connecting the city of Nijmegen to the town of Lent. Construction Construction started in 1875, on the site of an ancient Roman bridge, and was comple ...

, between

and Lent. *, between

and

Geldermalsen Geldermalsen () is a town and former Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of Gelderland in the Netherlands. Town of Geldermalsen The town centre of Geldermalsen contains a two-aisled Got ...

Water quality

The Waal has significant adverse water quality due to discharge of raw

sewage Sewage (or domestic sewage, domestic wastewater, municipal wastewater) is a type of wastewater that is produced by a community of people. It is typically transported through a sewerage, sewer system. Sewage consists of wastewater discharged fro ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

and

. A number of pathogens have been monitored to occur in the river waters from such sewage.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Waal (River) Distributaries of Europe Rivers of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta Rivers of Gelderland Rivers of North Brabant Rivers of South Holland Nijmegen Rivers of the Netherlands