The Western Scheldt ( ), in the province of

Zeeland Zeeland (; ), historically known in English by the Endonym and exonym, exonym Zealand, is the westernmost and least populous province of the Netherlands. The province, located in the southwest of the country, borders North Brabant to the east ...

in the southwestern

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

estuary An estuary is a partially enclosed coastal body of brackish water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea. Estuaries form a transition zone between river environments and maritime enviro ...

of the

Scheldt The Scheldt ( ; ; ) is a river that flows through northern France, western Belgium, and the southwestern part of Netherlands, the Netherlands, with its mouth at the North Sea. Its name is derived from an adjective corresponding to Old Englis ...

river. This river once had several estuaries, but the others are now disconnected from the Scheldt, leaving the Westerschelde as its only direct route to the sea. The Western Scheldt is an important shipping route to the Port of Antwerp,

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 ...

. Unlike the Eastern Scheldt estuary, it could not be closed off from the sea by a dam as part of the

Delta Works The Delta Works () is a series of construction projects in the southwest of the Netherlands to protect a large area of land around the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta from the sea. Constructed between 1954 and 1997, the works consist of dams, slu ...

. Instead, the dykes around it have been heightened and reinforced. Over the years, many ships have sunk in the Western Scheldt. Following an agreement between the Dutch and Belgian governments in 1995, many of the wrecks have been removed to improve shipping access to Antwerp. It was expected that the last 38 wrecks in the shipping channel would be removed during 2003. The largest wreck, which was removed in June 2003, was that of the long ''

Alan-A-Dale Alan-a-Dale (first recorded as Allen a Dale; variously spelled ''Allen-a-Dale'', ''Allan-a-Dale'', ''Allin-a-Dale'', ''Allan A'Dayle'' etc.) is a figure in the Robin Hood legend. According to the stories, he was a wandering minstrel who became ...

'', sunk in December 1944 during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

by a German '' Biber''

midget submarine A midget submarine is any submarine under 150 tons, typically operated by a crew of one or two but sometimes up to six or nine, with little or no on-board living accommodation. They normally work with mother ships, from which they are launched an ...

. The Western Scheldt was freed from German occupation in October and November 1944 by the First Canadian Army during the Battle of the Scheldt. Recently, the Western Scheldt has been exploring the concept of "wisselpolders" or "exchange polders", a

sedimentation enhancing strategy Sedimentation enhancing strategies are Environmental resource management, environmental management projects aiming to restore and facilitate land-building processes in River delta, deltas. Sediment availability and deposition are important because ...

, to offset land loss, enhance flood safety and create new land. One example is the Perkpolder project.

Western Scheldt Tunnel

In mid-March 2003, a

tunnel A tunnel is an underground or undersea passageway. It is dug through surrounding soil, earth or rock, or laid under water, and is usually completely enclosed except for the two portals common at each end, though there may be access and ve ...

under the Western Scheldt opened, the Western Scheldt Tunnel, running from Ellewoutsdijk in the municipality of Borsele ( Zuid-Beveland) to

Terneuzen Terneuzen () is a city and municipality in the southwestern Netherlands, in the province of Zeeland, in the middle of Zeelandic Flanders. With almost 55,000 inhabitants, it is the most populous municipality of Zeeland. History First mentione ...

Zeelandic Flanders Zeelandic Flanders ( ; ; )''Vlaanderen'' in isolation: . is the southernmost region of the province of Zeeland in the south-western Netherlands. It lies south of the Western Scheldt that separates the region from the remainder of Zeeland and th ...

. It is the longest road tunnel in the Netherlands. The toll (2012) is €5 for

cars A car, or an automobile, is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of cars state that they run primarily on roads, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport people rather than cargo. There are around one billio ...

and €2.50 for

motorcycle A motorcycle (motorbike, bike; uni (if one-wheeled); trike (if three-wheeled); quad (if four-wheeled)) is a lightweight private 1-to-2 passenger personal motor vehicle Steering, steered by a Motorcycle handlebar, handlebar from a saddle-style ...

s. Prior to 2011, the charge for motorcycles was the same as for cars, but it was reduced following protests. The single toll station for both directions is on the north bank. Pedestrians, cyclists, and moped riders are not allowed in the tunnel and must travel through it by bus.

Ferry

The double-decker car ferries that serviced the two Western Scheldt crossings until 2003 were sold to Italian companies. The Queen Beatrix (renamed ''Tremestieri'') and Prince Johan Friso (renamed ''Acciarello'') were adapted for the crossing between

Messina Messina ( , ; ; ; ) is a harbour city and the capital city, capital of the Italian Metropolitan City of Messina. It is the third largest city on the island of Sicily, and the 13th largest city in Italy, with a population of 216,918 inhabitants ...

and

Villa San Giovanni Villa San Giovanni () is a port city and a municipality in the Metropolitan City of Reggio Calabria of Calabria, Italy. In 2010 its population was 13,747 with a decrease of 2.5% until 2016 and in 2020 an increase of 3.7%. It is an important term ...

on the Italian mainland. With the opening of the road tunnel, the Breskens-

Vlissingen Vlissingen (; ) is a Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality and a city in the southwestern Netherlands on the island of Walcheren. With its strategic location between the Scheldt river and the North Sea, Vlissingen has been an importan ...

ferry A ferry is a boat or ship that transports passengers, and occasionally vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A small passenger ferry with multiple stops, like those in Venice, Italy, is sometimes referred to as a water taxi or water bus ...

was restricted to pedestrians and cyclists. It is operated by Westerschelde Ferry BV, a subsidiary of the province of

. The service initially used former car ferries, but as of 2 May 2004 it employs two " small waterplane area twinhulls" (swaths, similar to

catamaran A catamaran () (informally, a "cat") is a watercraft with two parallel hull (watercraft), hulls of equal size. The wide distance between a catamaran's hulls imparts stability through resistance to rolling and overturning; no ballast is requi ...

s), built at the Royal Schelde Group in Vlissingen (Flushing), and named ''Prins Willem Alexander'' and ''Prinses Máxima''. Upstream, the Kruiningen-Perkpolder ferry was discontinued without replacement.

References

External links

FerryTunnelFerry and Tunnel
(in Dutch, pdf, 1MB) {{Authority control Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta Estuaries of the Netherlands Rivers of Zeeland 0Westernscheldt Walcheren Zeelandic Flanders Zuid-Beveland Transport in Reimerswaal Transport in Vlissingen Ramsar sites in the Netherlands Rivers of the Netherlands

Western Scheldt Tunnel

Ferry

See also

References

External links