Aqueduct carrying the Ringvaart over the A4 highway, North Holland

The Ringvaart (known in full as Ringvaart of the Haarlemmermeer Polder) is a canal in the province of

North Holland North Holland ( nl, Noord-Holland, ) is a province of the Netherlands in the northwestern part of the country. It is located on the North Sea, north of South Holland and Utrecht, and west of Friesland and Flevoland. In November 2019, it had a ...

, the Netherlands. The Ringvaart (

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

meaning "ring canal") is a true circular canal surrounding the

Haarlemmermeer Haarlemmermeer () is a municipality in the west of the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. Haarlemmermeer is a polder, consisting of land reclaimed from water. The name Haarlemmermeer means ' Haarlem's lake', referring to the body of w ...

polder A polder () is a low-lying tract of land that forms an artificial hydrological entity, enclosed by embankments known as dikes. The three types of polder are: # Land reclaimed from a body of water, such as a lake or the seabed # Flood plains s ...

and forms the boundary of the Haarlemmermeer municipality. Ringvaart is also the name of the

dike Dyke (UK) or dike (US) may refer to: General uses * Dyke (slang), a slang word meaning "lesbian" * Dike (geology), a subvertical sheet-like intrusion of magma or sediment * Dike (mythology), ''Dikē'', the Greek goddess of moral justice * Dikes ...

bordering the canal. Construction of the canal began in 1839 as the first step to reclaim land from Haarlemmermeer (Dutch for Haarlem's Lake). Thousands of laborers dug a canal through the existing land, as much as possible closely following the lake's contour. But at three locations (Vijfhuizen, Lisserbroek, and Huigsloot), the Ringvaart was dug through

peninsula A peninsula (; ) is a landform that extends from a mainland and is surrounded by water on most, but not all of its borders. A peninsula is also sometimes defined as a piece of land bordered by water on three of its sides. Peninsulas exist on all ...

s which thereafter became part of Haarlemmermeer. In 1845, the canal was completed and the lake could be drained, using the Ringvaart to drain the excess waters. The canal is 61 kilometres (38 mi) long, and 2.4 metres (8 ft) deep. It encloses an area of more than 180 square kilometres (70 sq mi). The removed earth was used to build a ring

from 30 to 50 metres (30 to 54 yd) wide around the polder. The Ringvaart is used for commercial and recreational boat traffic. A portion of it forms part of the sailroute from

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 ...

to the

IJsselmeer The IJsselmeer (; fy, Iselmar, nds-nl, Iesselmeer), also known as Lake IJssel in English, is a closed off inland bay in the central Netherlands bordering the provinces of Flevoland, North Holland and Friesland. It covers an area of with an a ...

, passable for ships with masts over 6 meters (20 ft) tall. Near

Roelofarendsveen Roelofarendsveen is a town in the west of the Netherlands. It is located in the municipality of Kaag en Braassem, South Holland, about 10 km east of Leiden. History The village was first mentioned in 1575 as "Roelifaerts Veen", and means "b ...

, the Ringvaart crosses the A4 Highway by means of a

navigable aqueduct Navigable aqueducts (sometimes called water bridges) are bridge structures that carry navigable waterway canals over other rivers, valleys, railways or roads. They are primarily distinguished by their size, carrying a larger cross-section of wa ...

. It was built in 1961, making it the oldest aqueduct in the Netherlands. In 2006, construction was completed of two new portions: on the east side for crossing new north-bound lanes for the expanded highway; and on the west side for the new

HSL-Zuid The HSL-Zuid ( nl, Hogesnelheidslijn Zuid, en, High-speed Line South), is a 125 kilometre-long (78 miles) Dutch high-speed railway line running between the Amsterdam metropolitan area and the Belgian border, with a branch to Breda, North ...

high-speed railway. The new aqueduct is 1.8 kilometres (1.1 mi) long.

World Heritage Site

The Pump House Cruquius, which was used to drain the lake, is a Dutch ''

Rijksmonument A rijksmonument (, ) is a national heritage site of the Netherlands, listed by the agency Rijksdienst voor het Cultureel Erfgoed (RCE) acting for the Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture and Science. At the end of February 2015, the Netherlands ...

'' for the history of the

James Watt James Watt (; 30 January 1736 (19 January 1736 OS) – 25 August 1819) was a Scottish inventor, mechanical engineer, and chemist who improved on Thomas Newcomen's 1712 Newcomen steam engine with his Watt steam engine in 1776, which was fun ...

steam engine within. The Ringvaart, the Cruquius Pump House, the dike itself, and various other components such as aqueducts, bridges and defense bunkers located south of the dike of the

Stelling van Amsterdam The UNESCO World Heritage Site known as the Defence Line of Amsterdam (in Dutch named ''Stelling van Amsterdam'', ) is a ring of fortifications around Amsterdam. It has 42 forts that are from the centre and lowlands, which can easily be floode ...

(Defense line of Amsterdam) are considered a

World Heritage Site A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...

. The main dike of the Stelling van Amsterdam runs diagonally across the Haarlemmermeer polder and crosses the Ringvaart twice.

Fort Vijfhuizen Fort Vijfhuizen is one of forty-two forts in the Defense Line of Amsterdam (Dutch: ''stelling van Amsterdam''), a World Heritage Site. It is located in the town of Vijfhuizen on the ''ringvaart'' which surrounds the Haarlemmermeer polder. The mai ...

located on the Ringvaart is used for art exhibitions.

External links

Construction of new aqueductsCruiquius Museum official website
{{coord, 52.2316, 4.555, display=title Canals in the Netherlands Canals in North Holland Canal rings Haarlemmermeer Dutch words and phrases Canals opened in 1845

World Heritage Site

See also

External links