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32-443: The Wessem-Nederweert Canal is 17 km long, 2.5 meter deep, and varies in width from 30 to 50 meter. The maximum dimensions for ships on the canal are: length 96 m, beam 9,5 m, draft 2,10 m. This is CEMT IV with a draft limitation of 2.10 m. Panheel Lock is the only lock on the canal. It is a double lock consisting of the original Panheel Lock, and a more recent larger lock next to it. The canal pound close to

64-572: A push-tug . Most of the canals of the United Kingdom have smaller locks and would fall below the dimensions in the European classification system. In 2004, the standards were extended with four smaller sizes RA–RD covering recreational craft , which had originally been developed and proposed via PIANC . The proposal to add the recreational sizes was adopted by United Nations Economic Commission for Europe resolution 52. In 2015 an updated version

96-486: A Rhine ship of 2,000 tons, with a length of 200 m, beam of 12 m and draft of 2.80 m. In 1914 the canalization between Maasbracht and Grave was brought on the government budget. Before this was granted, an investigation was done whether it would not be cheaper to dig a canal from Maasbracht to the Zuid-Willemsvaart in combination with an upgrade of the latter. This alternative proved more expensive, but it

128-543: A better connection. Navigation from the western parts of the Netherlands to Maastricht could start to use big ships that did not fit the Wessem-Nederweert Canal. On the other hand, small ships that used the Zuid-Willemsvaart got a shorter route to Maastricht, and could use the Wessem-Nederweert Canal instead of the upper part of the Zuid-Willemsvaart. Also, some traffic to Liège, especially German coal continued to use

160-728: A new Kelperbrug. The new bridge would have to allow greater use of pushed barges. Classification of European Inland Waterways The Classification of European Inland Waterways is a set of standards for interoperability of large navigable waterways forming part of the Trans-European Inland Waterway network within Continental Europe and Russia. It was created by the European Conference of Ministers of Transport (ECMT; French : Conférence européenne des ministres des Transports , CEMT ) in 1992, hence

192-422: A projected average loss of 0.54 m/s. From the air, this led to a very typical view of a lock hemmed in by two basins. After preliminary work, construction of the Wessem-Nederweert Canal got up to steam in 1918. In 1925, the work of actually digging the canal was started. On 2 April 1928 the canal was opened for shipping. Almost as soon as it was opened, the Wessem-Nederweert Canal became busy, because it made

224-496: A serious activity from 1893 onwards. It was expected that coal mining would lead to industrialization of South Limburg. However, transporting bulk cargo to and from South Limburg was expensive, because it depended on rail transport, and the shallow Meuse . In the economic center of the Netherlands, the Limburg coal would be more expensive than German coal, because the latter was transported at very low cost by large ships that descended

256-545: The Meuse has a much lower level than that west of Panheel Lock. There are 9 bridges over the canal. The air draft of the bridges is about 5 meter. During the Industrial Revolution , the Netherlands lacked iron as well as coal . In South Limburg , it had rich coal deposits, but almost none of these could be exploited due to problems with groundwater. After technical difficulties were overcome, coal mining quickly became

288-577: The Rhine. The plans that led to improving the Meuse for shipping were known as the Canalization of the Meuse Kanalisatie van de Maas . The first plans for the Meuse consisted of dredging and removing all kind of obstacles. North of Maasbracht canalization was thought to be an effective solution. Between Maastricht and Maasbracht a lateral canal was designed in 1913. This design had locks suitable for

320-450: The Wessem-Nederweert Canal the plan foresaw that it had to be dredged out 30–50 cm, and that a bridged had to be lifted to allow a higher air draft. At Panheel the lock gates would have to be made a bit higher. In a second phase of the plan, a new much larger lock for 1,200 tons ships would have to be built next to the existing Panheel Lock. In October 1982 the minister of Transport and Water Management announced his decision to upgrade

352-454: The Wessem-Nederweert Canal. Another lock was planned at the start of the Noordervaart. These three locks were planned to get a lock chamber of 65 m long, a passage width of 7.50 m, and a depth of 2.50 m. The canal itself would be 30 m wide at the surface. A the bottom it would be 16 m wide, and deep 2.70 m in the center, and 2.50 m at the edges. Air draft for

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384-451: The canal became part of environmental considerations about giving preference to water transport over road transport. Minister Hanja Maij-Weggen promoted the canal, and the part of the Zuid-Willemsvaart that connected to Belgium, to a national waterway. This meant that the plans were again to be executed. In 1992 the new lock at Panheel was finished. However, the original 1966 plan called for a canal depth of 3.50 m. Therefore, only part of

416-606: The canal because of the high toll at the Lanaye Locks. During the May 1940 German invasion of the Netherlands all bridges on the Wessem-Nederweert Canal were destroyed. The lock at Panheel and Lock 15 at Nederweert were damaged. By September 1940 navigation resumed. In November 1944 the western allies crossed the canal at several places. After World War II, the extraction of gravel on the Meuse expanded to an industrial schale, especially for making concrete . The canal became important for

448-474: The canal was that less than 5% of the ships headed in the direction of Maastricht was loaded. In 1966, the maintenance situation of the Zuid-Willemsvaart was problematic, with almost all locks needing urgent replacement. Therefore, Rijkswaterstaat came up with an overall plan to modernize the Zuid-Willemsvaart, and the connected Wessem-Nederweert Canal. The idea was to make the canal suitable for fully loaded 600 tons ships, and occasional use by 1,350 ton ships. For

480-526: The canal. This led to a more elaborate plan to upgrade the canal to CEMT class IV. It was expected that if Belgium also upgraded, traffic on the canal would grow by about 60%, because part of the traffic to Belgium over the Juliana Canal would be rerouted over the upper part of the Zuid-Willemsvaart. In 1984 a culvert for the Uffelse Beek was replaced to allow greater depth of the canal. Actual execution of

512-594: The canalized Meuse and the Wessem-Nederweert Canal to only use the upper part of the Zuid-Willemsvaart, which stretched from Nederweert to Maastricht. The canalized Meuse between Maasbracht and Grave also connected to the Maas–Waal Canal , which had been opened in October 1927. This connected the Rhine to the Meuse close to the German border. In a few years traffic on this new canal grew from 5,000 ships in 1928 to 24,000 ships in

544-486: The crisis year 1931. This generated new traffic on the Wessem-Nederweert Canal, e.g. coal barges from the Ruhr . The original idea to create all these works, the transport of Limburg coal, started slowly. In Maasbracht a coal trestle kolentip was made, where rail cars could be tipped in order to load coal into ships. However, the national railways , which were in part owned by the state, were in financial trouble. In June 1928

576-474: The design of the Wessem-Nederweert Canal was ready, and a disappropriation law was brought to parliament. The canal would run from Wessem to Nederweert, where it met the Zuid-Willemsvaart. Near the Meuse Panheel Lock would control the water level in the canal. On the Zuid-Willemsvaart, locks 14 and 15 would be demolished. A new Lock 15 would be built on the Zuid-Willemsvaart just upstream of the junction with

608-447: The fixed bridges would be 5.20 m. The disappropriation did take a later expansion to 2,000 tons ships into account. In summer, the Meuse was very dry, because Belgium used most of its water in irrigation projects. It was therefore necessary to save water. The biggest loss of water on the canal was caused by the operation of the locks. Therefore, Panheel Lock would get storage basins, which reduced its water consumption by 60%, leaving

640-472: The government was involved in a two-year contract between the railways and the coal mines, which severely limited use of the coal trestle. In July 1929 the coal trestle was finally taken into use, with Rijkswaterstaat itself providing rail transport to Maasbracht. As foreseen, the 1935 opening of the Juliana Canal put an end to the heyday of the Wessem-Nederweert Canal. The traffic from the Ruhr to Maastricht now had

672-755: The occasion of the 75th anniversary of the connection between the Maas and Waal. Although the canal is located entirely in Gelderland , the management is in the hands of Rijkswaterstaat directorate Limburg. There is a lock in Weurt, and another one in Heumen, but the latter is almost always open. This is because the water of the Maas at Heumen is maintained at a constant level through a weir in Grave . In 2007 and 2008 several bridges were jacked up by 25 to 35 cm (9.8 to 13.8 in), so

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704-522: The plans started with the construction of the second Panheel Lock in April 1986. In October 1986 an 89 m long culvert zinker was placed to channel the Tungelroysche Beek below the canal. By May 1987 construction of the new Panheel Lock was well underway. In 1987 the whole upgrade plan was halted, and postponed by 5 years. Construction of the second Panheel Lock would be left unfinished. By 1990,

736-559: The plans were executed. The more elaborate 1985 plan for the Wessem-Nederweert Canal specified some works on the bridges over the canal. It called for making the Kelperbrug 0.73 m higher. The air draft of the Kelpen railroad bridge would have to be heightened by 0.20 m to 5.95 m, and a new Schoorbrug was planned. In 2008, a new higher Schoorbrug was opened. In 2016, Limburg province and Rijkwaterstaat reached an initial agreement for

768-429: The provinces of Gelderland , Limburg and North Brabant . Construction on the canal began in 1920. On 27 October 1927, the waterway was officially opened by HM Queen Wilhelmina. Before the canal was dug, ships had to make a detour of about 100 km (62 mi) to change from Heumen to Nijmegen to reach the German hinterland; the new route shortened the trip to ~12 km (7.5 mi). The consequences for

800-462: The range of dimensions are also referred to as CEMT Class I–VII . The size for each waterway is limited by the dimensions of the structures including the locks and boat lifts on the route. Class I corresponds to the historical Freycinet gauge decreed in France during 1879. The larger river classification sizes are focused on the carriage of intermodal containers in convoys of barges propelled by

832-456: The same time, the city of Nijmegen decided to construct a new neighborhood, Dukenburg , on the far (Western) side of the canal. Less than 10 years later, another neighborhood, Lindenholt , was added in the area where the older part of Neerbosch had been. This left the canal lying largely inside the built-up area of Nijmegen. In 2002, H. van Eeuwijk and G. J. Nillesen published their booklet Three-quarter Century of Maas–Waal Canal 1927–2002 on

864-466: The shortcut of the Meuse even shorter between 's-Hertogenbosch and Maasbracht. The opening of the canalized Meuse between Maasbracht and Grave in October 1929 made the Wessem-Nederweert Canal a transport artery of national importance. The traditional route from Rotterdam to Maastricht and Liège was over the Zuid-Willemsvaart that started in 's-Hertogenbosch, and ended in Maastricht. Now, skippers began to use

896-441: The transport of this gravel grind . In 1965 the Wessem-Nederweert Canal was busier than any part of the Zuid-Willemsvaart. Compared to the connected canalized Meuse and Juliana Canal, it was less relevant. The number of ships on the canal was about two-thirds of that on those waters, and in tonnage transport was only about a quarter or a third of that on the canalized Meuse and Juliana Canal. A remarkable fact about shipping on

928-439: The village of Heumen were unmistakable. It became isolated in a hard to reach corner between the Meuse and the canal. The village of Neerbosch was cut in half, and the centre of the village of Hatert was torn down to make room for a bridge across the canal. The village also lost its church and both pubs. In 1970, it was decided to widen the canal at an estimated cost of 117 million Dutch guilders (53 million euro). At around

960-464: The water level in the channel could be increased. This allowed container ships with four layers of containers to use of the canal. Raising the water level in the canal will lead to higher groundwater levels in areas directly adjacent to the canal. Rijkswaterstaat will construct a drainage system to prevent possible negative consequences. From north to south, the Maas–Waal Canal is bridged by

992-488: Was found that the construction of a (smaller) canal from Wessem to Nederweert would be useful. It would benefit North-Brabant and Zeeland, and while the canalization was in progress, ships of up to 400 ton could transport coal via the Zuid-Willemsvaart, and the Wilhelmina Canal . When the latter was ready, the Wessem-Nederweert Canal would shorten the route from Maasbracht to Tilburg from 220 km to 90 km. In 1917

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1024-406: Was published. Maas%E2%80%93Waal Canal The Maas–Waal Canal (Dutch: Maas–Waalkanaal ) is a canal in the Netherlands that connects the river Meuse (Dutch: Maas) to the river Waal . The channel is about 13.5 kilometres (8.4 mi) long and runs from Weurt (west of Nijmegen) to the south and ends at Heumen. The connection of the Meuse and the Maas–Waal Canal is the tripoint between

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