Pannerdens Canal
The Pannerdens Canal ( Dutch Pannerdensch Kanaal ) runs between Pannerden and Huissen . It is six kilometers long and 135 meters wide and connects the Bijlands Canal of the Rhine with the Nederrijn . It was built between 1701 and 1709.
history
On the occasion of the threat in the War of the Spanish Succession (1701-1714), the government of the Republic of the Seven United Provinces of the Netherlands became aware that enemies on the eastern border between Pannerden and Huissen could advance unhindered to the important western provinces. That is why the Dutch war builder Menno Baron van Coehoorn was commissioned to close the gap. Shortly before his death, he set out the floor plan for a defensive wall (retranchement) near Pannerden. The canal was built from the ditch in front of this wall between 1701 and 1707, including the work for the retranchement.
Since the Rhine and the IJssel were silting up more and more - in summer, shipping was temporarily no longer possible - in 1702 the provinces of Utrecht , Gelderland and Overijssel demanded that the canal be opened. The Waal towns of Nijmegen , Tiel and Dordrecht resisted . They feared a decline in their shipping income.
An agreement was not reached until 1771 and the connection to the Rhine was established, which ensured the water supply to Nederrijn and IJssel. In the early years, however, this often led to floods.
At the beginning of the canal, two thirds of the Rhine water is distributed in the Waal and one third in the Pannerdens Canal. At the junction of the IJssel, two thirds of this flow to the Nederrijn and the rest to the IJssel.
In addition to shortening the watercourse to the Nederrijn, this also had strategic advantages for the Nieuwe Hollandse Waterlinie . With a flow rate of around 700 m³ / s, there was enough water available for both the defense line and shipping.
An ancient forerunner in the immediate vicinity was the Drusus Canal .
Fortifications
The Fort Pannerden was built from 1869 to 1872 on the headland between Waal and channel to ensure the distribution of water. Remains of an earlier fortification in the form of a Sternschanze ( Sterreschans ) built in 1742 have been preserved under Doornenburg . This Sternschanze was initially called Nieuw-Schenkenschans (Neu- Schenkenschanz ) after the abandoned Dutch fortress of 1586 near Kleve (Lower Rhine).
