North Holland Canal
The North Holland Canal ( Dutch Noordhollandsch Kanaal ) is a 75 kilometer long canal in the Dutch province of North Holland . It connects the capital Amsterdam in a north-south direction via Purmerend and Alkmaar with the port city and the naval base Den Helder .
The canal was built at the beginning of the 19th century by order of King Wilhelm I of the Netherlands. It begins in Amsterdam at the Willem I lock and ends in Den Helder with the Koopvaarderschutsluis .
history
In the 17th century, due to silting, the navigability of the Zuidersee for seagoing ships to Amsterdam decreased more and more. The goods had to be reloaded onto smaller ships, which was time-consuming. When that became too expensive, the ship camels were used . Nevertheless, Amsterdam fought more and more against silting up the port.
At that time it was not yet possible to build a direct connection between Amsterdam and the North Sea and the associated locks. At the same time, the IJ should also be dammed.
It was decided to build the North Holland Canal , which was created by connecting and widening several drainage canals ( Boezemwater ). In several places the canal is part of the Beemster and Schermerringvaarten. Another part of the canal follows the course of the Rekere near Alkmaar .
In 1824 the canal was finished and the travel time from Amsterdam to Den Helder was shortened considerably. Because of the steady increase in shipping traffic and the larger ships, the canal quickly became too small. In 1876 the 25 km long North Sea Canal was opened. This gave Amsterdam a short and direct connection to the North Sea. The North Holland Canal quickly lost its importance for shipping; today it is only important north of Alkmaar. However, the canal is of great importance for the water balance in North Holland.
Floating bridges
The floating bridges are a special feature of the North Holland Canal . When the canal was built, it was not yet possible to build solid bridges with large spans.
Today there are still five floating bridges north of Alkmaar:
- the Koedijkervlotbrug near Koedijk (City of Alkmaar )
- the Rekervlotbrug near Koedijk (City of Alkmaar)
- the Burgervlotbrug near Burgervlotbrug (municipality of Schagen )
- the Sint Maartensvlotbrug near Sint Maartensvlotbrug (municipality of Schagen)
- the Vlotbrug't Zand (municipality of Schagen)
There used to be the Stolpervlotbrug at De Stolpen and a bridge in Alkmaar at the place of today's ferry on the Bierkade.
