The Scheldt–Rhine Canal (Schelde-Rijnkanaal) in

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

and the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

connects

Antwerp Antwerp (; ; ) is a City status in Belgium, city and a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of Antwerp Province, and the third-largest city in Belgium by area at , after ...

with the Volkerak, and thereby the

Scheldt The Scheldt ( ; ; ) is a river that flows through northern France, western Belgium, and the southwestern part of Netherlands, the Netherlands, with its mouth at the North Sea. Its name is derived from an adjective corresponding to Old Englis ...

with the

Rhine The Rhine ( ) is one of the List of rivers of Europe, major rivers in Europe. The river begins in the Swiss canton of Graubünden in the southeastern Swiss Alps. It forms part of the Swiss-Liechtenstein border, then part of the Austria–Swit ...

Route

The canal starts close to the Scheldt river, at the port of Antwerp, and generally runs north. After it passes the Dutch-Belgian border, it serves as the border between the Dutch provinces of North Brabant and

Zeeland Zeeland (; ), historically known in English by the Endonym and exonym, exonym Zealand, is the westernmost and least populous province of the Netherlands. The province, located in the southwest of the country, borders North Brabant to the east ...

. Just north of Zuid-Beveland ships have to pass the to enter the lower part of the canal. Just north of the sluices the canal enters the artificial and leaves this lake again as a canalised section of the former Eendracht strait, before terminating in the Volkerak estuary. Here, the provide access to the Rhine-Meuse Delta and the port of Rotterdam.

History

During the 1920s the Belgian government demanded a replacement for the Canal through Zuid-Beveland, to keep the port of Antwerp accessible for the lucrative Rhine trade. According to the original plan, the new canal was supposed to connect Antwerp directly to Moerdijk on the Hollands Diep, but after the Second World War and the North Sea flood of 1953 the Dutch government decided that the new canal should be part of the Delta Works and proposed a more westerly route, in fact it would take the same route as the ancient Striene river. After the Belgian government agreed in 1963, work on the canal began. In order to keep the canal free of tides, two dams were built to separate the tidal Oosterschelde from the Scheldt-Rhine canal. These are the Oesterdam (resulting in the creation of the Zoommeer) and the Philipsdam (that turned the Volkerak estuary into a freshwater lake).

Bridges

It crosses the east of Zuid-Beveland, where it is crossed by a railroad bridge (between the stations Rilland-Bath on the west and

Bergen op Zoom Bergen op Zoom (; called ''Berrege'' in the Brabantian dialect, local dialect) is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in southwestern Netherlands. It is located in the Province ...

on the east) and three road bridges, and along Tholen, where it is spanned by three road bridges.

References

Map
{{DEFAULTSORT:Scheldt-Rhine Canal International canals Canals opened in 1975 Canals in the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta Canals in Flanders Canals in Antwerp Province Canals in North Brabant Canals in Zeeland Geography of Antwerp Transport in Antwerp Transport in Bergen op Zoom Transport in Reimerswaal Steenbergen Tholen Zuid-Beveland