Brussels-Scheldt sea canal

Brussels-Scheldt sea canal
Course of the Brussels-Scheldt sea canal
location	Belgium, Brussels Capital Region / Flanders
length	28 km
Built	1561
class	VI
Beginning	Brussels
The End	Scheldt
The canal is also called the Brussels-Rupel Sea Canal or Canal de Willebroek .
The canal at the Willebroek bridge

The Brussels-Scheldt Sea Canal (Dutch: Zeekanaal Brussel-Schelde ) is a canal in Belgium that runs from Brussels to the Scheldt . The name Brussels-Scheldt Sea Canal is the official name of the canal after the Brussels-Rupel Sea Canal was extended to the Scheldt in 1997. An older but still common name for the canal is Canal de Willebroek .

history

The Canal de Willebroek is one of the oldest navigable canals in Belgium and Europe. The original canal was 20 kilometers long, up to 30 meters wide and 2 meters deep. It connected the port of Brussels with Willebroek and led from there to the Rupel . The height difference of 14 meters was overcome via four locks . The commissioning saved the ships from the Senne and customs for the passage from Mechelen to the Rupel.

As early as the first half of the fifteenth century, Philip the Good had developed plans to channel the Senne River. In 1477, however, Mary of Burgundy gave the city of Brussels permission to dig a completely new canal to the Scheldt or the Rupel. Emperor Charles V renewed this approval in 1531. The city of Mechelen , which was entitled to levy tariffs for transport on the Senne, protested against the plans of the city of Brussels and delayed the construction of the canal for a long time. After the dispute with Mechelen and Vilvorde had been settled and the Queen of Hungary had approved the construction, the mayor of Brussels, Jean de Locquenghien , was able to break the first sod on June 16, 1550. On October 11, 1561, the work on the canal was completed. The cost of the construction is said to have been 800,000 guilders.

In the heart of Brussels, on Place Sainte-Catherine , there were several shipyards soon after the canal opened. These were closed again in the late 19th century, but are still recognizable today by a number of street names. The course of the canal in Brussels changed after the opening of the Charleroi-Brussels canal in 1832. Linking the two canals created a direct link between the port of Antwerp and the industry around Charleroi . The company NV Zeekanaal en Watergebonden Grondbeheer Vlaanderen , founded in 1896, carried out extensive modernizations on the canal from 1900, with the confluence of the Rupel being relocated to the new lock at Wintam and the two locks at Vilvoorde and Humbeek through the lock at Kapelle-op-den-Bos have been replaced. In 1922 the modernized canal was opened for shipping.

During the 1920 Summer Olympics , the rowing competitions were held near Vilvoorde .

In 1965 the canal was further modernized with a deepening and expansion to a width of 55 m (25 m for the locks). The large new locks (205 m × 25 m) Zemst (opened in 1975) and Wintam (opened in 1997) reduced the number of locks to two and a direct connection to the Scheldt followed. The port of Brussels is now accessible for seagoing vessels up to 4500 tons and inland vessels (push convoys up to 9000 tons). Container terminals for connection to road traffic have recently been built in Willebroek and in the port of Brussels.

Economical meaning

The canal is of great importance for the capital Brussels, especially in the supply of petroleum, which accounts for about 30% of all traffic. In 1974 the annual transport reached a temporary high point of 14.4 million tons. After a decline, there has been a noticeable recovery in recent years. The port of Brussels is the second largest inland port in the country after Liège, with 7.7 million tons being transported by the canal .

After regionalization, the management of the canal is no longer in the hands of NV-Zeekanaal, but has been transferred to the port of Brussels for the Brussels area and to Wasserstraßen und Seekanal NV for the Flemish part .

Web links

Commons : Brussels-Scheldt Maritime Canal  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Overview map: Waterways in Belgium (PDF file; 231 kB)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Bomberg, B. A New Picture Of Brussels 1820

Coordinates: 51 ° 1 ′ 41 ″  N , 4 ° 21 ′ 25 ″  E