The Bergse Maas (; pre-1947 spelling: Bergsche Maas) is a

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 flow un ...

that was constructed in 1904 to be a branch of the river Maas (French: Meuse) in the Dutch province of

North Brabant North Brabant ( nl, Noord-Brabant ; Brabantian: ; ), also unofficially called Brabant, is a province in the south of the Netherlands. It borders the provinces of South Holland and Gelderland to the north, Limburg to the east, Zeeland to the we ...

. The Maas splits near

Heusden Heusden () is a municipality and a town in the South of the Netherlands. It is located between the towns of Waalwijk and 's-Hertogenbosch. The municipality of Heusden, including Herpt, Heesbeen, Hedikhuizen, Doeveren, and Oudheusden, merged with ...

into the

Afgedamde Maas The Afgedamde Maas (; Dammed-up Meuse) is a former distributary of the Maas River (French: Meuse) in the Dutch provinces of North Brabant and Gelderland. The Maas splits near Heusden with one channel flowing north until its confluence with the r ...

and the Bergse Maas. The Afgedamde Maas flows north until its confluence with the river

Waal WAAL (99.1 FM "The Whale") is a commercial radio station licensed to Binghamton, New York. It airs a classic rock radio format and is owned by Townsquare Media. WAAL is the oldest FM radio station in the Binghamton metropolitan area. It is an ...

(the main distributary of the river

Rhine ), Surselva, Graubünden, Switzerland , source1_coordinates= , source1_elevation = , source2 = Rein Posteriur/Hinterrhein , source2_location = Paradies Glacier, Graubünden, Switzerland , source2_coordinates= , so ...

) to form the

Merwede The Merwede () etymology uncertain, possibly derived from the ancient Dutch language, Dutch ''Merwe'' or ''Merowe'', a word meaning "wide water") is the name of several connected stretches of river in the Netherlands, between the cities of Woudrich ...

, while the Bergse Maas continues west as the main distributary of the Maas. Part of the Merwede (the

Nieuwe Merwede The Nieuwe Merwede (; "New Merwede") is a Dutch canal, mainly fed by the river Rhine, that was constructed in 1870 to form a branch in the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, Rhine–Meuse delta. It was dug along the general trajectory, trajectories o ...

) rejoins the Bergse Maas to form the

Hollands Diep Hollands Diep ( pre-1947 spelling: Hollandsch Diep) is a wide river in the Netherlands and an estuary of the Rhine and Meuse rivers. Through the Scheldt-Rhine Canal it connects to the Scheldt river and Antwerp. The Bergse Maas river and the N ...

estuary.

History

Historically, a natural branch of the Maas flowed from Heusden to the

Amer Amer may refer to: Places * Amer (river), a river in the Dutch province of North Brabant * Amer, Girona, a municipality in the province of Girona in Catalonia, Spain * Amber, India (also known as Amer, India), former city of Rajasthan state ** Am ...

and

estuary; this branch silted up and now forms a

stream A stream is a continuous body of water, body of surface water Current (stream), flowing within the stream bed, bed and bank (geography), banks of a channel (geography), channel. Depending on its location or certain characteristics, a stream ...

called

Oude Maasje The Oude Maasje ("Little Old Meuse") is a former distributary of the river Maas (or Meuse), which runs parallel to the current canalised Bergse Maas. History The hydrological distribution of the Maas changed during the later Middle Ages, when a ...

. The Bergse Maas, which takes its name from the town of

Geertruidenberg Geertruidenberg () is a city and municipality in the province North Brabant in the south of the Netherlands. The city, named after Saint Gertrude of Nivelles, received city rights in 1213 from the count of Holland. The fortified city prospered un ...

, was constructed in its basin to take over its functions, in 1904. The other main distributary of the Maas was at the same time dammed-up and renamed

("Dammed-up Meuse"). The resulting separation of the rivers Rhine and Maas reduced the risk of flooding and is considered to be the greatest achievement in Dutch hydraulic engineering before the completion of the

Zuiderzee Works The Zuiderzee Works ( nl, Zuiderzeewerken) is a man-made system of dams and dikes, land reclamation and water drainage work, in total the largest hydraulic engineering project undertaken by the Netherlands during the twentieth century. The proje ...

and

Delta Works The Delta Works ( nl, Deltawerken) 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 con ...

Transport

There are two road bridges and three car ferries. The latter are free of charge for all traffic, as promised to the people living in the area when the Bergse Maas was dug.

References

External links

Ferries in North Brabant
{{Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta Canals in the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta Canals opened in 1904 0BergseMaas Land van Heusden en Altena Geography of Altena, North Brabant Geertruidenberg Heusden Waalwijk