The Nieuwe Merwede (; "New Merwede") is a Dutch

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 ...

, mainly fed by the river

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

, that was constructed in 1870 to form a branch in the Rhine–Meuse delta. It was dug along the general

trajectories A trajectory or flight path is the path that an object with mass in motion follows through space as a function of time. In classical mechanics, a trajectory is defined by Hamiltonian mechanics via canonical coordinates; hence, a complete traj ...

of a number of minor

Biesbosch De Biesbosch National Park is one of the largest national parks of the Netherlands and one of the last extensive areas of freshwater tidal wetlands in Northwestern Europe. The Biesbosch ('forest of sedges' or 'rushwoods') consists of a large n ...

creeks to reduce the risk of flooding by diverting the water away from the

Beneden Merwede The Beneden Merwede () is a stretch of river in the Netherlands, mainly fed by the river Rhine. It starts as the continuation of the Boven Merwede after the branching-off of the Nieuwe Merwede ship canal. It flows from Hardinxveld-Giessendam to D ...

, and to facilitate navigation and regulate river

traffic Traffic comprises pedestrians, vehicles, ridden or herded animals, trains, and other conveyances that use public ways (roads) for travel and transportation. Traffic laws govern and regulate traffic, while rules of the road include traffic ...

in the increasingly silted-up delta. It is one of several rivers called

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 ...

. The most upstream is the river

Boven Merwede The Boven 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 Beneden Merwede rive ...

("Upper Merwede"), itself the continuation of the

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 ...

river and, until 1904, 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 ...

(now the closed-off

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 ...

) as well. The Boven Merwede branches near the

town A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares an ori ...

Hardinxveld-Giessendam Hardinxveld-Giessendam () is a municipality in the western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland. It is located about 10 km east of Dordrecht, on the river Beneden-Merwede. The municipality had a population of in and covers an area ...

into River

("Lower Merwede") to the northwest and the Nieuwe Merwede to the southwest. The Nieuwe Merwede joins River

Bergse Maas The Bergse Maas (; pre-1947 spelling: Bergsche Maas) is a canal that was constructed in 1904 to be a branch of the river Maas (French: Meuse) in the Dutch province of North Brabant. The Maas splits near Heusden into the Afgedamde Maas and the ...

near

Lage Zwaluwe Lage Zwaluwe is a village in the municipality Drimmelen, North Brabant, the Netherlands. The Lage Zwaluwe railway station and the Moerdijk bridges lie to the west of the village. History The village was first mentioned in as 1291 Zwaluwe, and ...

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 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 environment ...

, and separates the

Island of Dordrecht Dordrecht (), historically known in English as Dordt (still colloquially used in Dutch, ) or Dort, is a city and municipality in the Western Netherlands, located in the province of South Holland. It is the province's fifth-largest city after ...

from the

Biesbosch National Park De Biesbosch National Park is one of the largest national parks of the Netherlands and one of the last extensive areas of freshwater tidal wetlands in Northwestern Europe. The Biesbosch ('forest of sedges' or 'rushwoods') consists of a large n ...

. There are no

bridge A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually somethi ...

s or

tunnel A tunnel is an underground passageway, dug through surrounding soil, earth or rock, and enclosed except for the entrance and exit, commonly at each end. A pipeline is not a tunnel, though some recent tunnels have used immersed tube cons ...

s crossing the Nieuwe Merwede, but there is a

car A car or automobile is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of ''cars'' say that they run primarily on roads, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport people instead of goods. The year 1886 is regarded as ...

ferry A ferry is a ship, watercraft or amphibious vehicle used to carry passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A passenger ferry with many stops, such as in Venice, Italy, is sometimes called a water bus or water taxi ...

from the

on the west at "Kop van 't Land" to Brabantse Oever,

Werkendam Werkendam () is a town and a former municipality in the southern Netherlands. The municipality, part of Land van Heusden en Altena, contained a large part of De Biesbosch area as is located in the province of North Brabant. On January 1sth 2019 it ...

(Biesbosch).

References

External links

The ferry across the Nieuwe Merwede
Image:Biesbosch_20050928_40011.JPG, Nieuwe Merwede in the middle {{Coord, 51, 47, 15, N, 4, 45, 50, E, display=title, region:NL Canals in the Netherlands Canals in the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta Canals opened in 1870 Canals in North Brabant Canals in South Holland Drechtsteden Land van Heusden en Altena Geography of Altena, North Brabant Dordrecht