The Máxima Canal dates from 2014 and runs from 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 B ...

near Den Dungen to the

Meuse The Meuse or Maas 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 total length of . History From 1301, the upper ...

near Gewande.

Context

The Máxima Canal is also known as the reroute of the Zuid-Willemsvaart or . In the early nineteenth century the Zuid-Willemsvaart was dug through the northern part of the center of

's-Hertogenbosch s-Hertogenbosch (), colloquially known as Den Bosch (), is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Netherlands with a population of 160,783. It is the capital of ...

. As there were few buildings in the area this was not a problem till the late nineteenth century. At that time, part of the Citadel of 's-Hertogenbosch, and part of the medieval water gate at the city harbor had to be demolished to make room for bigger ships. This solved the problem for another century. However, as time went by, ships got so big that the Zuid-Willemsvaart could not be enlarged without severely damaging housing or road traffic in 's-Hertogenbosch. It was clear that something had to be done if the Zuid-Willemsvaart was to continue its existence as a significant waterway. The extent of what was required followed from the national traffic and transport plan . The NVVP designated the Zuid-Willemsvaart from the Meuse to

Veghel Veghel () is a town and a former municipality in Southern Netherlands. On 1 January 2017 Veghel, together with Schijndel and Sint-Oedenrode, merged into a new municipality called Meierijstad. This created the largest municipality of the provi ...

as being a part of the main network for water transport. This main network has to be navigable for ships of CEMT class IV. In 's-Hertogenbosch the Zuid-Willemsvaart was only fit ships of CEMT class II, about half the size of CEMT class IV. Realization of the NVVP required a drastic measure, which was to make a shortcut from the Zuid-Willemsvaart to the Meuse east of 's-Hertogenbosch.

Construction

Construction of the Máxima Canal started in 2007. The work was executed by the Willemsunie, a combination of the contractors 'Van Hattum en Blankevoort', 'KWS Infra', 'GMB Civiel' and 'Van den Herik Kust- en Oeverwerken'. The Máxima Canal was opened on 19 December 2014. It spelled the end for commercial use of the Zuid-Willemsvaart in 's-Hertogenbosch. Recreational shipping is still allowed to use the old canal, but has sharply decreased. One of the reasons is that the locks and bridges now operate less frequently.

Locks

Two locks bridge the difference in water level between the Meuse and the Zuid-Willemsvaart: * Empel lock moves ships from the variable water level of the Meuse to 2 m above Amsterdam Ordnance Datum (). * Hintham Lock moves ships from 2 m to 4.7 m above Amsterdam Ordnance Datum.

Bridges

There are eight bridges across the Máxima Canal. They have an

air draft Air draft (or air draught) is the vertical distance from the surface of the water to the highest point on a vessel. This is similar to the '' deep draft'' of a vessel which is measured from the surface of the water to the deepest part of the h ...

of 7 m, enough for ships to load three layers of

containers A container is any receptacle or enclosure for holding a product used in storage, packaging, and transportation, including shipping. Things kept inside of a container are protected on several sides by being inside of its structure. The term ...

Nature

In the Netherlands it is mandatory that major infrastructural works that destroy parts of nature are compensated for by creating new nature. For the Máxima Canal nature was compensated by creating . It is a nature reserve that includes a new 'river' Rosmalense Aa. This is also an Ecological Connection Zone, or between the Aa and the Meuse.

Notes

{{Reflist, 2 Canals in North Brabant