The Dieze is a short

river A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of wate ...

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

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

, tributary of the

Meuse The Meuse ( , , , ; wa, Moûze ) or Maas ( , ; li, Maos or ) 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 t ...

(). It is formed by the confluence of the rivers Aa and Dommel in

's-Hertogenbosch s-Hertogenbosch (), colloquially known as Den Bosch (), is a city and municipality in the Netherlands with a population of 157,486. It is the capital of the province of North Brabant and its fourth largest by population. The city is south of th ...

. The part of the Dieze in the centre of 's-Hertogenbosch is called

Binnendieze Binnendieze is the common name for all rivers and canals inside the city walls of 's-Hertogenbosch, the Netherlands. It is a major tourist attraction. Near the north-west tip of the city walls, the confluence of the Binnendieze with the rivers A ...

, a partly covered network of canals. The Dieze flows into the Meuse near

Hedel Hedel () is a town in the Dutch province of Gelderland. It is a part of the municipality of Maasdriel, and lies about 7 km northwest of 's-Hertogenbosch. Hedel was a separate municipality until 1999, when it was merged with Maasdriel. In Wor ...

Dieze and Dommel

Of the two rivers that form the Dieze, the Dommel is the main river, and the Aa is her tributary. It is remarkable that after this confluence, the last 5 km of the 125-km stream bed of the Dommel is named 'Dieze'. This has historic reasons. The name 'Dieze' used to refer to a river running from Oisterwijk to the Meuse. It consisted of the

Esschestroom The Esschestroom, also Essche Stroom is a small river near Esch in North Brabant Name The Esschestroom is also called Essche Stroom, which is a mere matter of spelling. Another name is 'Run' which is a very common name for brooks. This can lea ...

, which now runs for only 7 km from Oisterwijk to Halder; the Dommel from Halder to 's-Hertogenbosch; the Binnendieze and Aa in 's-Hertogenbosch, and the current Dieze. All of this (about 25 km) was known as the Dieze, because the Dommel was considered to be her tributary. When the Dommel came to be considered the main river, the stretch of the Dieze between Oisterwijk and Halder was renamed Esschestroom, or Run. The stretch between Halder and 's-Hertogenbosch was renamed Dommel. Within the gates of 's-Hertogenbosch however, the Dommel retained the name 'Dieze', later changed to 'Binnendieze'. Still later the main stream bed of the Dommel was rerouted to the west of the city, creating a new confluence of the Dommel with a diversion of the Aa. From a local perspective, however, these artificial diversions joined the Dieze. which flowed from the city harbor of 's-Hertogenbosch to the Meuse.

History

The river Dieze flows for 5 km from the city harbor of 's-Hertogenbosch to the Meuse. The Dieze and her predecessors have always been the route for commercial shipping of the city. In medieval times it probably gave direct access to the sea, because ships were very small. In 1587 the Dutch Republic built

Fort Crèvecoeur Fort Crevecoeur ( French: ''Fort Crèvecœur'') was the first public building erected by Europeans within the boundaries of the modern state of Illinois and the first fort built in the West by the French. It was founded on the east bank of the ...

to protect their shipping and to control shipping to 's-Hertogenbosch. By then shipping to and from 's-Hertogenbosch was local. In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, there were regular connections from 's-Hertogenbosch to cities in Holland and Zeeland. In 1823-1826 the

Zuid-Willemsvaart The Zuid-Willemsvaart (; translated: ''South William's Canal'') is a canal in the south of the Netherlands and the east of Belgium. Route The Zuid-Willemsvaart is a canal in the provinces Limburg (Netherlands), Limburg (Belgium) and North Br ...

was dug between 's-Hertogenbosch and Maastricht. It started a new chapter for the Dieze, which now gave access to an inland waterway stretching to Maastricht and Liège. In the nineteenth century regular service by steam (paddle) ships was set up between 's-Hertogenbosch and Rotterdam. These steamships required more space on the water surface. The city, therefore, began to press for improvements to the Dieze. From 1897-1902 the Dieze Canal was dug. In the twentieth century, the Dieze was changed to keep up with the ever-increasing size of ships. However, the passage of the Zuid-Willemsvaart through the city center of 's-Hertogenbosch became ever more troublesome, and could not be widened to serve the bigger ships. Therefore the

Máxima Canal The Máxima Canal dates from 2014 and runs from the Zuid-Willemsvaart near Den Dungen to the Meuse near Gewande. Context The Máxima Canal is also known as the reroute of the Zuid-Willemsvaart or . In the early nineteenth century the Zuid-Wil ...

was dug east of 's-Hertogenbosch, creating a new connection between the Zuid-Willemsvaart and the Meuse. After the opening of the Maximakanaal in December 2014, the passage of the Zuid-Willemsvaart through the city was closed to commercial shipping. It could have spelled the end of the 's-Hertogenbosch harbor, but a new future was created by focusing on container transport.

The Dieze as a commercial waterway

The Dieze now consists of the river Dieze and the Dieze Canal. Ships use the river Dieze from the commercial harbor of 's-Hertogenbosch till Engelen. From Engelen to the Meuse, ships use the Engelen Canal. The whole is now a CEMT class IV waterway. Maximum draft for ships on the canal is .

Sections of the Dieze

Commercial Harbor of 's-Hertogenbosch

Nowadays, the commercial harbor of 's-Hertogenobosch is situated on the Dieze, a bit west of the city center. It was founded in the mid 1920s as part of an industrial area, and used for transporting all kinds of bulk products. In 1955 the Heineken company established one of her two Dutch breweries on this terrain. Like most inland harbors, 's-Hertogenbosch harbor steadily lost terrain to road transport after world war II. Heineken however, has a strategic (cost) interest in being able to use transport over water. In 's-Hertogenbosch the brewery uses e.g. 100,000 tons of

malt Malt is germinated cereal grain that has been dried in a process known as " malting". The grain is made to germinate by soaking in water and is then halted from germinating further by drying with hot air. Malted grain is used to make beer, wh ...

each year, which all arrives by ship. When containers came in general use, there were doubts about whether a container terminal would be viable in 's-Hertogenbosch, because it was so close to the port of Rotterdam. Heineken was very interested, because it exported containers with bottled beer. It wanted to fill these containers at the brewery, instead of at Rotterdam or Antwerp. It was one of the partners that succeeded in establishing the Bossche Container Terminal (BCT) in December 1995. The container terminal became a success, and led to the expansion of other logistics companies in the harbor. Later competing projects were set up in Veghel and Waalwijk. A group of related activities that persists in the harbor has to do with the transport of raw materials for construction. E.g. the production of

concrete Concrete is a composite material composed of fine and coarse aggregate bonded together with a fluid cement (cement paste) that hardens (cures) over time. Concrete is the second-most-used substance in the world after water, and is the most wi ...

and the transport of

asphalt Asphalt, also known as bitumen (, ), is a sticky, black, highly viscous liquid or semi-solid form of petroleum. It may be found in natural deposits or may be a refined product, and is classed as a pitch. Before the 20th century, the term a ...

and

gravel Gravel is a loose aggregation of rock fragments. Gravel occurs naturally throughout the world as a result of sedimentary and erosive geologic processes; it is also produced in large quantities commercially as crushed stone. Gravel is classifi ...

. Other companies are active in the transport of

fodder Fodder (), also called provender (), is any agriculture, agricultural foodstuff used specifically to feed domesticated livestock, such as cattle, domestic rabbit, rabbits, sheep, horses, chickens and pigs. "Fodder" refers particularly to food g ...

, and in waste disposal.

Village Engelen

The village of Engelen at the start of the Dieze Canal has a quay.

Meerwijk Castle Meerwijk Castle is a Tudor Revival Style mansion on the east bank of the Dieze river just north of 's-Hertogenbosch. It was preceded by Meerwijk Manor, built on the same location. Medieval Meerwijk Castle In the former municipality of Empel en ...

is situated opposite Engelen on the other shore of the Dieze. It is a manor built in

Tudor Revival architecture Tudor Revival architecture (also known as mock Tudor in the UK) first manifested itself in domestic architecture in the United Kingdom in the latter half of the 19th century. Based on revival of aspects that were perceived as Tudor architecture ...

style.

The Dieze Canal

The Dieze Canal runs from Engelen to the Meuse. The Dieze canal contains

Engelen Lock Engelen Lock is a Lock (water navigation), lock with vertical-lift bridge in the Dieze Canal near Engelen, North Brabant, just before the canal exits into the Meuse. Location The Dieze is a short river in North Brabant, the Netherlands, tributa ...

, previously named Henriëttesluis. This lock had between 20,000-40,000 passages in 2008. Maximum size for ships that use the lock is 90 m long by 12 m beam. After the opening of the Maximakanaal in December 2014, the Dieze became less busy. The lock was transferred to the province of

, because it was no longer on a 'national' route. However, the Dieze canal is still important for shipping.

The Dieze east of the canal

After the Dieze canal has been split off from the Dieze at Engelen, the natural Dieze continues to the north. Before Crèvecoeur it splits in a branch that ran straight through the fortress, and a branch that turns left, called Oude Dieze ('old Dieze'), circumventing Crèvecoeur. At the start of the Oude Dieze there is a

sluice Sluice ( ) is a word for a channel controlled at its head by a movable gate which is called a sluice gate. A sluice gate is traditionally a wood or metal barrier sliding in grooves that are set in the sides of the waterway and can be considered ...

that regulates the water level on the Dieze, and further upstream. The natural river therefore still processes more water than the wider Dieze canal.

Gallery

Dieze, north of 's-Hertogenbosch

File:Wikitakesdenbosch_014.jpg, The bridge at the city harbor can be considered as start of the Dieze File:De_Dieze_in_'s-Hertogenbosch.jpg, The Dieze from her confluence with the Aa at the Orthenseweg File:Oude_fabriek_Koudijs_%27s-Hertogenbosch.jpg, Quay of the Dieze near Tramkade File:A59_Engelen_Dieze.jpg, Bridge of the A 59 over the Dieze File:Dieze in Engelen.jpg, Dieze in Engelen File:Kasteel Meerwijk.jpg, Meerwijk Castle on the east bank of the Dieze

Reference

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Notes

{{Reflist, 2

External links

Watercanon
Rivers of North Brabant 's-Hertogenbosch Rivers of the Netherlands