Covering of the Senne
Encyclopedia
The covering of the Senne was one of the defining events in the history of Brussels
. The Senne/Zenne
(French
/Dutch
) was historically the main waterway
of Brussels, but it became more polluted and less navigable as the city grew. By the second half of the 19th century, it had become a serious health hazard and was filled with pollution, garbage and decaying organic matter. It flooded frequently, inundating the lower town and the working class
neighbourhoods which surrounded it.
Numerous proposals were made to remedy this problem, and in 1865, the mayor of Brussels, Jules Anspach
, selected a design by architect Leon Suys
to cover the river and build a series of grand boulevards and public buildings. The project faced fierce opposition and controversy, mostly due to its cost and the expropriation and demolition of working class neighbourhoods. The construction was contracted to a British company, but control was returned to the government following an embezzlement scandal. This delayed the project, but it was still completed in 1871. Its completion allowed the construction of the modern buildings and boulevards which are central to downtown Brussels today.
In the 1930s, plans were made to cover the Senne along its entire course within the greater Brussels area, which had grown significantly since the covering of the 19th century. The course of the Senne was changed to the downtown's peripheral boulevards. In 1976, the disused tunnels were converted into the north-south axis of Brussels' underground tram system, the premetro. Actual purification of the waste water from the Brussels-Capital Region was not completed until March 2007, when two treatment stations were built, thus finally cleansing the Senne after centuries of problems.
in the upper town, inhabited mainly by the nobility
and the richer members of the bourgeoisie
, was upscale and modern. The rest of the city, however, in particular the lower town, located in the western half of the Pentagon, was densely populated and industrial, characterized by an illogical street layout, back alleys, narrow streets, and numerous dead ends.
The Senne
river split into two branches at Anderlecht
, penetrating the Pentagon, the former site of the second city walls
, in two places. The main and more southern arm entered through the Greater Sluice Gate, near today's Brussels-South railway station. The smaller northerly arm entered through the Lesser Sluice Gate, near today's Ninove Gate
. The courses of the two traced a meandering path through the city centre, forming several islands, the largest of which was known as Saint Gaugericus Island
. The two branches met up on the north side of Saint Gaugericus Island, exiting the Pentagon one block east of Antwerp Gate
. A man-made arm, called the "Lesser Senne" continued on the borders of the Pentagon in the former moat
, outside the sluice gates. It followed the Charleroi Canal before rejoining the main part of the Senne north of the city.
The Senne had long since lost its usefulness as a navigable waterway, being replaced by canals, including the Charleroi Canal. The Senne had always been a river with an inconsistent flow, often overflowing its banks. In times of heavy rainfall, even the sluice gates were unable to regulate the flow of the river which was often swollen by numerous creeks flowing down from higher ground. Making matters worse, within the city the river's bed was narrowed by encroaching construction due to demographic pressure. The supports of numerous unregulated bridges impeded water flow and caused water levels to rise even further, exacerbated by a riverbed of accumulated waste.
During dry periods, however, much of the Senne's water was diverted for the needs of the populace of the city as well as to maintain the water level in the Charleroi Canal. This left a flow too feeble to evacuate the filthy water, leaving the sewage
, garbage, detritus
and industrial waste that had been dumped into the river to accumulate in the stagnant water. The Senne, which a witness in 1853 described as "the most nauseous little river in the world" had become an open-air sewer
spreading pestilential odours throughout the city. Early in the second half of the 19th century, Brussels saw numerous dry periods, floods and a cholera
epidemic, caused as much by the river itself as by the poverty and the lack of hygiene
and potable water in the lower city. This forced the governments of the Province of Brabant
and the City of Brussels
to act.
The municipal council chose the proposal by architect Léon Suys
, submitted in 1865, which had the backing of mayor Jules Anspach
. The plan involved suppressing the secondary arm of the Senne by closing the Lesser Sluice Gate. The main branch would be channelled into underground tunnels, to be placed directly beneath a long, straight 30 m (100 ft) wide boulevard, stretching from the Greater Sluice Gate to the Augustinian church
(now De Brouckère Square) before splitting into two. One branch was to head towards the Brussels North railway station and present day Rogier Square
, the other towards Antwerp Gate
, thus forming a long, narrow "Y" shape.
Anspach's backing of Suys' proposal was a calculated decision, as he had radical plans to transform the city. Anspach saw the proposal as an unexpected boon, as it allowed him to accomplish several of his goals at once. It had long been his ambition to transform the impoverished lower city into a centre of business and commerce, suitable for a modern capital. He wanted to attract the middle class, most of whom had left the dingy downtown for the cleaner suburbs, including the Leopold quarter (now often called the European quarter
) and Avenue Louise
, causing a large loss in tax revenue
for the city. The elimination of the numerous alleys and dead-ends in the lower town in favour of a large, straight, wide, open-air boulevard, linking the two rapidly growing train stations, seemed both a necessity and an opportunity to beautify the city and improve both traffic circulation and hygiene.
had recently passed a law allowing the expropriation
of privately owned land by the government when the land was to be used for the 'greater good.' This could be done even if the project was still speculative in nature, and allowed for more land to be taken beyond what was strictly necessary for a project. The city expropriated large swathes of the lower town, counting on reselling the land for a profit, which, after the project was complete, would be on a grandiose modern boulevard in an upper-class neighbourhood. The selling of land after the completion of the project was seen as a way of financing the project itself. That the poorer residents of the lower town were forced away into other already overcrowded districts or into the surrounding suburbs did not trouble the upper classes very much, as the displaced residents did not pay taxes or have the right to vote.
Even after Suys' proposal was officially adopted, Anspach faced strong opposition to the project. This opposition came first from engineers who felt that the covering was incompatible with Brussels’s geology, would accumulate potentially dangerous gases and would not be able to handle enough water to prevent floods. Others opposed to the project complained about the high taxes resulting from its high cost, poor compensation for seized property and the lack of public input into the project. The press accused Anspach of being responsible for demolishing Brussels' old town, and published numerous caricatures mocking him.
A liberal, Anspach feared the weakness and rigidity of the government and therefore gave the work of covering the river to a private British company, the Belgian Public Works Company (the English name was used), which was created for the task. However, partway through construction, it was forced to relinquish control to the city of Brussels after an embezzlement
scandal in which a company director allegedly attempted to steal 2.5 million francs
from the company. Anspach only barely kept his office in 1869 by-elections.
The contract was signed on June 15, 1866 and the expropriation of the first 1,100 houses was completed in a few months. The work began on February 13, 1867. There were several technical difficulties that delayed the covering, many of which were due to the geology of Brussels, though they were not as bad as some engineers had forecast. The embezzlement scandal also caused a significant delay in construction, largely due to the change in control. The project was completed in 1871, with the municipal council ceremonially opening the reconstructed sluice gates on November 30.
), North Boulevard (now Adolphe Max Boulevard), and Senne Boulevard (now Émile Jacqmain Boulevard) – were progressively opened to traffic from 1871 to 1873.
The opening of these new routes offered a more efficient way to get into the lower town than the cramped streets of rue du Midi/Zuidstraat, rue des Fripiers/Kleerkopersstraat and rue Neuve
and helped revitalize the lower quarters of the town. In order to accomplish this revitalization and attract investment, public buildings were constructed as part of the Léon Suys
project including the Brussels Stock Exchange
. The vast Halles Centrales/Centrale Hallen, a good example of metallic architecture, replaced unhygienic open-air markets, though it was torn down in 1958. The monumental fountain that was to break the monotony of the boulevards at Fontainas Square was abandoned for budgetary reasons.
The construction of private buildings on the boulevards and surrounding areas took place later. The middle class continued to prefer living in new suburbs rather than the cramped areas of the city center. The high prices of the land (expected to finance part of the construction costs) and the high rents were not within the means of the lower classes. Life in apartments was no longer desirable for residents of Brussels, who preferred to live in single family homes. The buildings constructed by private citizens had difficulty finding buyers.
To give builders an incentive to create elaborate and appealing facade
s on their works, an architecture competition was arranged in which twenty buildings built before January 1, 1876 would win prizes. The first prize of 20,000 francs was awarded to Henri Beyaert who designed the "Hier ist in den kater en de kat" (Loosely, "House of Cats") on North Boulevard. Nonetheless, it took another 20 years, until 1895, for buildings to solidly line the boulevards.
The former Augustinian church, built at the beginning of the 17th century in the baroque
style, was the only remaining part of a convent destroyed in 1796 by French revolution
aries. After having been used as a Protestant church from 1815 to 1830, it subsequently saw use as a concert hall, a commercial exchange, and a post office. At the center of de Brouckère square, the church’s façade was intended by Léon Suys
to be one of the focal points of the new boulevards. The work to cover the river, which nearly surrounded the church, preserved the integrity of the building at great trouble and expense, but the church was finally demolished in 1893, its style no longer popular with the people and its presence unsuitable for the area. The church was replaced by a fountain dedicated to the memory of Jules Anspach
. The facade of the church, however, was preserved, being disassembled and moved to serve as the façade for the St. Trinity Church in the suburb Ixelles.
In 1930, a group was created whose objective was to channel the Senne into subterranean tunnels for nearly its entire course through the Brussels metropolitan area. This was done in order to expand the benefits that the covering achieved in the old city. In the centre, the course of the river was to be changed from the central boulevards to the peripheral boulevards of the small ring
. The project, delayed by war and the work being done on the North–South connection, was only finished in 1955.
The disused channels of the central boulevards later facilitated the construction of the north-south line of the premetro, which opened in 1976. The conversion of the existing tunnels to metro tunnels ensured that there was minimal disruption on the surface. Some of the former pipes also served as storm drains. The Anspach Fountain was transferred to the Quartier des Quais/Kaaien.
Actual purification of the waste water from the Brussels-Capital Region was not completed until the 21st century, when two purification stations were built. The south station treats refuse water from 360,000 inhabitants, which is about one third of the polluted water, and lies on the border of Anderlecht
and Forest
. The north station, completed in March 2007, is located near the border of the Brussels-Capital Region, between the Senne and the Charleroi-Willebroek Canal, near Buda Bridge. A portion of the cost was footed by the Flemish Government
, as 7 of the adjacent municipalities lie within the Flemish Region
. This station is capable of treating the water of 1,100,000 inhabitants and should finally be capable of fully purifying the Senne, which had long caused much of the pollution of the Scheldt
river.
Brussels
Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...
. The Senne/Zenne
Zenne
The Zenne or Senne is a small river that flows through Brussels, left tributary of the Dijle/Dyle. Its source is in the municipality of Soignies. It is an indirect tributary of the Scheldt, through the Dijle and the Rupel...
(French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
/Dutch
Dutch language
Dutch is a West Germanic language and the native language of the majority of the population of the Netherlands, Belgium, and Suriname, the three member states of the Dutch Language Union. Most speakers live in the European Union, where it is a first language for about 23 million and a second...
) was historically the main waterway
Waterway
A waterway is any navigable body of water. Waterways can include rivers, lakes, seas, oceans, and canals. In order for a waterway to be navigable, it must meet several criteria:...
of Brussels, but it became more polluted and less navigable as the city grew. By the second half of the 19th century, it had become a serious health hazard and was filled with pollution, garbage and decaying organic matter. It flooded frequently, inundating the lower town and the working class
Working class
Working class is a term used in the social sciences and in ordinary conversation to describe those employed in lower tier jobs , often extending to those in unemployment or otherwise possessing below-average incomes...
neighbourhoods which surrounded it.
Numerous proposals were made to remedy this problem, and in 1865, the mayor of Brussels, Jules Anspach
Jules Anspach
Jules Victor Anspach was a Belgian politician, best known for his renovations surrounding the covering of the Senne river. He is buried in the Brussels Cemetery....
, selected a design by architect Leon Suys
Léon Suys
Léon-Pierre Suys was a Belgian architect.Suys's father Tilman-François Suys was the architect of King Leopold I, and the founder of the Belgian Royal Commission of Sites and Monuments, of which his friend François-Joseph Navez was also a member...
to cover the river and build a series of grand boulevards and public buildings. The project faced fierce opposition and controversy, mostly due to its cost and the expropriation and demolition of working class neighbourhoods. The construction was contracted to a British company, but control was returned to the government following an embezzlement scandal. This delayed the project, but it was still completed in 1871. Its completion allowed the construction of the modern buildings and boulevards which are central to downtown Brussels today.
In the 1930s, plans were made to cover the Senne along its entire course within the greater Brussels area, which had grown significantly since the covering of the 19th century. The course of the Senne was changed to the downtown's peripheral boulevards. In 1976, the disused tunnels were converted into the north-south axis of Brussels' underground tram system, the premetro. Actual purification of the waste water from the Brussels-Capital Region was not completed until March 2007, when two treatment stations were built, thus finally cleansing the Senne after centuries of problems.
The Senne in Brussels
At the beginning of the 19th century, Brussels was in many ways still a very medieval city. The royal quarterQuarter (country subdivision)
A quarter is a section of an urban settlement.Its borders can be administratively chosen , and it may have its own administrative structure...
in the upper town, inhabited mainly by the nobility
Nobility
Nobility is a social class which possesses more acknowledged privileges or eminence than members of most other classes in a society, membership therein typically being hereditary. The privileges associated with nobility may constitute substantial advantages over or relative to non-nobles, or may be...
and the richer members of the bourgeoisie
Bourgeoisie
In sociology and political science, bourgeoisie describes a range of groups across history. In the Western world, between the late 18th century and the present day, the bourgeoisie is a social class "characterized by their ownership of capital and their related culture." A member of the...
, was upscale and modern. The rest of the city, however, in particular the lower town, located in the western half of the Pentagon, was densely populated and industrial, characterized by an illogical street layout, back alleys, narrow streets, and numerous dead ends.
The Senne
Senné
Senné is a village and municipality in the Veľký Krtíš District of the Banská Bystrica Region of southern Slovakia.-External links:*http://www.statistics.sk/mosmis/eng/run.html...
river split into two branches at Anderlecht
Anderlecht
Anderlecht is one of the nineteen municipalities located in the Brussels-Capital Region.There are several historically and architecturally distinct districts within the Anderlecht municipality.-Pronunciation:* Dutch: * French:...
, penetrating the Pentagon, the former site of the second city walls
Second walls of Brussels
There were two stages of fortifications of Brussels, the first walls, built in the early 13th century, and the second walls, built in the late 14th century and later upgraded. Today, only a few sections of either remain.-First walls:...
, in two places. The main and more southern arm entered through the Greater Sluice Gate, near today's Brussels-South railway station. The smaller northerly arm entered through the Lesser Sluice Gate, near today's Ninove Gate
Small ring (Brussels)
The Brussels small ring or inner ring road is a series of roadways in central Brussels, Belgium, surrounding the historic city centre. It was built on the site of the Second walls of Brussels, built in the 16th century, after they were torn down....
. The courses of the two traced a meandering path through the city centre, forming several islands, the largest of which was known as Saint Gaugericus Island
Saint Gaugericus Island
Saint-Géry Island was the largest island in the Senne river in Brussels, Belgium. It was named after Saint Gaugericus of Cambrai, who built a chapel there ca. 580. Hence the name "Brussels", which comes from Bruocsella or Broekzele, meaning "settlement in the marsh"...
. The two branches met up on the north side of Saint Gaugericus Island, exiting the Pentagon one block east of Antwerp Gate
Small ring (Brussels)
The Brussels small ring or inner ring road is a series of roadways in central Brussels, Belgium, surrounding the historic city centre. It was built on the site of the Second walls of Brussels, built in the 16th century, after they were torn down....
. A man-made arm, called the "Lesser Senne" continued on the borders of the Pentagon in the former moat
Moat
A moat is a deep, broad ditch, either dry or filled with water, that surrounds a castle, other building or town, historically to provide it with a preliminary line of defence. In some places moats evolved into more extensive water defences, including natural or artificial lakes, dams and sluices...
, outside the sluice gates. It followed the Charleroi Canal before rejoining the main part of the Senne north of the city.
The Senne had long since lost its usefulness as a navigable waterway, being replaced by canals, including the Charleroi Canal. The Senne had always been a river with an inconsistent flow, often overflowing its banks. In times of heavy rainfall, even the sluice gates were unable to regulate the flow of the river which was often swollen by numerous creeks flowing down from higher ground. Making matters worse, within the city the river's bed was narrowed by encroaching construction due to demographic pressure. The supports of numerous unregulated bridges impeded water flow and caused water levels to rise even further, exacerbated by a riverbed of accumulated waste.
During dry periods, however, much of the Senne's water was diverted for the needs of the populace of the city as well as to maintain the water level in the Charleroi Canal. This left a flow too feeble to evacuate the filthy water, leaving the sewage
Sewage
Sewage is water-carried waste, in solution or suspension, that is intended to be removed from a community. Also known as wastewater, it is more than 99% water and is characterized by volume or rate of flow, physical condition, chemical constituents and the bacteriological organisms that it contains...
, garbage, detritus
Detritus
Detritus is a biological term used to describe dead or waste organic material.Detritus may also refer to:* Detritus , a geological term used to describe the particles of rock produced by weathering...
and industrial waste that had been dumped into the river to accumulate in the stagnant water. The Senne, which a witness in 1853 described as "the most nauseous little river in the world" had become an open-air sewer
Sanitary sewer
A sanitary sewer is a separate underground carriage system specifically for transporting sewage from houses and commercial buildings to treatment or disposal. Sanitary sewers serving industrial areas also carry industrial wastewater...
spreading pestilential odours throughout the city. Early in the second half of the 19th century, Brussels saw numerous dry periods, floods and a cholera
Cholera
Cholera is an infection of the small intestine that is caused by the bacterium Vibrio cholerae. The main symptoms are profuse watery diarrhea and vomiting. Transmission occurs primarily by drinking or eating water or food that has been contaminated by the diarrhea of an infected person or the feces...
epidemic, caused as much by the river itself as by the poverty and the lack of hygiene
Hygiene
Hygiene refers to the set of practices perceived by a community to be associated with the preservation of health and healthy living. While in modern medical sciences there is a set of standards of hygiene recommended for different situations, what is considered hygienic or not can vary between...
and potable water in the lower city. This forced the governments of the Province of Brabant
Province of Brabant
Brabant was a province of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands from 1815 until 1830 and a province of Belgium from 1830 until 1995, when it was split into the Dutch-speaking Flemish Brabant, the French-speaking Walloon Brabant and the bilingual Brussels-Capital Region.-United Kingdom of the...
and the City of Brussels
City of Brussels
The City of Brussels is the largest municipality of the Brussels-Capital Region, and the official capital of Belgium by law....
to act.
Attempts at purification
The first studies and propositions to clean up the river date back to 1859, and during the following years, many different commissions of engineers were assigned to examine possible solutions. Dozens of different ideas were submitted, many of which were completely unfeasible. Several of them proposed diverting large amounts of cleaner water from other rivers upstream to dilute the Senne, while greatly improving the drainage system in the city. Other proposals involved diverting the main course of the Senne completely to the Lesser Senne, which would then be enlarged and thus more useful for boat traffic and mills. Others considered any sort of sanitization impossible, and proposed covering the Senne without greatly changing its course. Among these was a proposal to double the size of the underground drainage tunnels, creating space for a subterranean railroad tunnel. The idea was ahead of its time, but would be implemented a century later with the North–South connection.The municipal council chose the proposal by architect Léon Suys
Léon Suys
Léon-Pierre Suys was a Belgian architect.Suys's father Tilman-François Suys was the architect of King Leopold I, and the founder of the Belgian Royal Commission of Sites and Monuments, of which his friend François-Joseph Navez was also a member...
, submitted in 1865, which had the backing of mayor Jules Anspach
Jules Anspach
Jules Victor Anspach was a Belgian politician, best known for his renovations surrounding the covering of the Senne river. He is buried in the Brussels Cemetery....
. The plan involved suppressing the secondary arm of the Senne by closing the Lesser Sluice Gate. The main branch would be channelled into underground tunnels, to be placed directly beneath a long, straight 30 m (100 ft) wide boulevard, stretching from the Greater Sluice Gate to the Augustinian church
Temple des Augustins
The Temple des Augustins in Brussels was a baroque-style church designed by the architect Jacob Franquart and erected 1621-1642...
(now De Brouckère Square) before splitting into two. One branch was to head towards the Brussels North railway station and present day Rogier Square
Small ring (Brussels)
The Brussels small ring or inner ring road is a series of roadways in central Brussels, Belgium, surrounding the historic city centre. It was built on the site of the Second walls of Brussels, built in the 16th century, after they were torn down....
, the other towards Antwerp Gate
Small ring (Brussels)
The Brussels small ring or inner ring road is a series of roadways in central Brussels, Belgium, surrounding the historic city centre. It was built on the site of the Second walls of Brussels, built in the 16th century, after they were torn down....
, thus forming a long, narrow "Y" shape.
Anspach's backing of Suys' proposal was a calculated decision, as he had radical plans to transform the city. Anspach saw the proposal as an unexpected boon, as it allowed him to accomplish several of his goals at once. It had long been his ambition to transform the impoverished lower city into a centre of business and commerce, suitable for a modern capital. He wanted to attract the middle class, most of whom had left the dingy downtown for the cleaner suburbs, including the Leopold quarter (now often called the European quarter
Espace Léopold
The Espace Léopold or is the complex of parliament buildings in Brussels housing the European Parliament, a legislative chamber of the European Union ....
) and Avenue Louise
Avenue Louise
Avenue Louise or Louizalaan is a major thoroughfare in Brussels. It runs southeast from Louise Square to the Bois de la Cambre, covering a distance of .- History :...
, causing a large loss in tax revenue
Tax revenue
Tax revenue is the income that is gained by governments through taxation.Just as there are different types of tax, the form in which tax revenue is collected also differs; furthermore, the agency that collects the tax may not be part of central government, but may be an alternative third-party...
for the city. The elimination of the numerous alleys and dead-ends in the lower town in favour of a large, straight, wide, open-air boulevard, linking the two rapidly growing train stations, seemed both a necessity and an opportunity to beautify the city and improve both traffic circulation and hygiene.
Controversy and opposition
The Belgian ParliamentBelgian Federal Parliament
The Belgian Federal Parliament is a bicameral parliament. It consists of the Chamber of Representatives and the Senate . It sits in the Palace of the Nation .- Chamber of Representatives :...
had recently passed a law allowing the expropriation
Eminent domain
Eminent domain , compulsory purchase , resumption/compulsory acquisition , or expropriation is an action of the state to seize a citizen's private property, expropriate property, or seize a citizen's rights in property with due monetary compensation, but without the owner's consent...
of privately owned land by the government when the land was to be used for the 'greater good.' This could be done even if the project was still speculative in nature, and allowed for more land to be taken beyond what was strictly necessary for a project. The city expropriated large swathes of the lower town, counting on reselling the land for a profit, which, after the project was complete, would be on a grandiose modern boulevard in an upper-class neighbourhood. The selling of land after the completion of the project was seen as a way of financing the project itself. That the poorer residents of the lower town were forced away into other already overcrowded districts or into the surrounding suburbs did not trouble the upper classes very much, as the displaced residents did not pay taxes or have the right to vote.
Even after Suys' proposal was officially adopted, Anspach faced strong opposition to the project. This opposition came first from engineers who felt that the covering was incompatible with Brussels’s geology, would accumulate potentially dangerous gases and would not be able to handle enough water to prevent floods. Others opposed to the project complained about the high taxes resulting from its high cost, poor compensation for seized property and the lack of public input into the project. The press accused Anspach of being responsible for demolishing Brussels' old town, and published numerous caricatures mocking him.
A liberal, Anspach feared the weakness and rigidity of the government and therefore gave the work of covering the river to a private British company, the Belgian Public Works Company (the English name was used), which was created for the task. However, partway through construction, it was forced to relinquish control to the city of Brussels after an embezzlement
Embezzlement
Embezzlement is the act of dishonestly appropriating or secreting assets by one or more individuals to whom such assets have been entrusted....
scandal in which a company director allegedly attempted to steal 2.5 million francs
Belgian franc
The franc was the currency of Belgium until 2002 when the euro was introduced into circulation. It was subdivided into centimes , 100 centiem or Centime .-History:...
from the company. Anspach only barely kept his office in 1869 by-elections.
Construction
Excluding the important sewers built upriver and downriver in the adjacent suburbs, the covered section itself was to be 2.2 kilometres (1.4 mi) in length. Constructed from bricks, the covering was to consist of two parallel 6 m (20 ft) wide tunnels, and a set of two lateral drainage pipes, each taking in waste water from its respective side of the street.The contract was signed on June 15, 1866 and the expropriation of the first 1,100 houses was completed in a few months. The work began on February 13, 1867. There were several technical difficulties that delayed the covering, many of which were due to the geology of Brussels, though they were not as bad as some engineers had forecast. The embezzlement scandal also caused a significant delay in construction, largely due to the change in control. The project was completed in 1871, with the municipal council ceremonially opening the reconstructed sluice gates on November 30.
The new central boulevards
The series of boulevards created by the project – Hainaut Boulevard (now Maurice Lemonnier Boulevard), Central Boulevard (now Boulevard AnspachBoulevard Anspach
Boulevard Anspach or Anspachlaan is a major boulevard in the city centre of Brussels, Belgium, connecting the Place de Brouckère to the Place Fontainas. It is named after Jules Anspach, a former mayor of Brussels. It was built over the river Senne, covering it up, although the river no longer...
), North Boulevard (now Adolphe Max Boulevard), and Senne Boulevard (now Émile Jacqmain Boulevard) – were progressively opened to traffic from 1871 to 1873.
Rue Neuve (Brussels)
Rue Neuve or Nieuwstraat is a pedestrian street in Brussels' city center. It is the most popular shopping area in Belgium by number of shoppers...
and helped revitalize the lower quarters of the town. In order to accomplish this revitalization and attract investment, public buildings were constructed as part of the Léon Suys
Léon Suys
Léon-Pierre Suys was a Belgian architect.Suys's father Tilman-François Suys was the architect of King Leopold I, and the founder of the Belgian Royal Commission of Sites and Monuments, of which his friend François-Joseph Navez was also a member...
project including the Brussels Stock Exchange
Brussels Stock Exchange
The Brussels Stock Exchange was founded in Brussels, Belgium, by Napoleonic decree in 1801. On September 22, 2000, the BSE merged with Paris Bourse, Lisbon Stock Exchange and the stock exchanges of Amsterdam, to form Euronext N.V., the first pan-European exchange for equities and derivatives,...
. The vast Halles Centrales/Centrale Hallen, a good example of metallic architecture, replaced unhygienic open-air markets, though it was torn down in 1958. The monumental fountain that was to break the monotony of the boulevards at Fontainas Square was abandoned for budgetary reasons.
The construction of private buildings on the boulevards and surrounding areas took place later. The middle class continued to prefer living in new suburbs rather than the cramped areas of the city center. The high prices of the land (expected to finance part of the construction costs) and the high rents were not within the means of the lower classes. Life in apartments was no longer desirable for residents of Brussels, who preferred to live in single family homes. The buildings constructed by private citizens had difficulty finding buyers.
To give builders an incentive to create elaborate and appealing facade
Facade
A facade or façade is generally one exterior side of a building, usually, but not always, the front. The word comes from the French language, literally meaning "frontage" or "face"....
s on their works, an architecture competition was arranged in which twenty buildings built before January 1, 1876 would win prizes. The first prize of 20,000 francs was awarded to Henri Beyaert who designed the "Hier ist in den kater en de kat" (Loosely, "House of Cats") on North Boulevard. Nonetheless, it took another 20 years, until 1895, for buildings to solidly line the boulevards.
The former Augustinian church, built at the beginning of the 17th century in the baroque
Baroque
The Baroque is a period and the style that used exaggerated motion and clear, easily interpreted detail to produce drama, tension, exuberance, and grandeur in sculpture, painting, literature, dance, and music...
style, was the only remaining part of a convent destroyed in 1796 by French revolution
French Revolution
The French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...
aries. After having been used as a Protestant church from 1815 to 1830, it subsequently saw use as a concert hall, a commercial exchange, and a post office. At the center of de Brouckère square, the church’s façade was intended by Léon Suys
Léon Suys
Léon-Pierre Suys was a Belgian architect.Suys's father Tilman-François Suys was the architect of King Leopold I, and the founder of the Belgian Royal Commission of Sites and Monuments, of which his friend François-Joseph Navez was also a member...
to be one of the focal points of the new boulevards. The work to cover the river, which nearly surrounded the church, preserved the integrity of the building at great trouble and expense, but the church was finally demolished in 1893, its style no longer popular with the people and its presence unsuitable for the area. The church was replaced by a fountain dedicated to the memory of Jules Anspach
Jules Anspach
Jules Victor Anspach was a Belgian politician, best known for his renovations surrounding the covering of the Senne river. He is buried in the Brussels Cemetery....
. The facade of the church, however, was preserved, being disassembled and moved to serve as the façade for the St. Trinity Church in the suburb Ixelles.
Diversion and treatment
Although the original covering of the Senne resolved sanitary problems and flooding in Brussels’ old city, this was not the case in peripheral areas. The Senne was still very polluted, despite work done to the sewers and spillways in the canal. The drainage into the canal was not able to completely stop the floods that regularly affected certain outer areas of the city.In 1930, a group was created whose objective was to channel the Senne into subterranean tunnels for nearly its entire course through the Brussels metropolitan area. This was done in order to expand the benefits that the covering achieved in the old city. In the centre, the course of the river was to be changed from the central boulevards to the peripheral boulevards of the small ring
Small ring (Brussels)
The Brussels small ring or inner ring road is a series of roadways in central Brussels, Belgium, surrounding the historic city centre. It was built on the site of the Second walls of Brussels, built in the 16th century, after they were torn down....
. The project, delayed by war and the work being done on the North–South connection, was only finished in 1955.
The disused channels of the central boulevards later facilitated the construction of the north-south line of the premetro, which opened in 1976. The conversion of the existing tunnels to metro tunnels ensured that there was minimal disruption on the surface. Some of the former pipes also served as storm drains. The Anspach Fountain was transferred to the Quartier des Quais/Kaaien.
Actual purification of the waste water from the Brussels-Capital Region was not completed until the 21st century, when two purification stations were built. The south station treats refuse water from 360,000 inhabitants, which is about one third of the polluted water, and lies on the border of Anderlecht
Anderlecht
Anderlecht is one of the nineteen municipalities located in the Brussels-Capital Region.There are several historically and architecturally distinct districts within the Anderlecht municipality.-Pronunciation:* Dutch: * French:...
and Forest
Forest, Belgium
Forest or Vorst is one of the nineteen municipalities located in the Brussels-Capital Region of Belgium.The town is commonly known for its concert hall...
. The north station, completed in March 2007, is located near the border of the Brussels-Capital Region, between the Senne and the Charleroi-Willebroek Canal, near Buda Bridge. A portion of the cost was footed by the Flemish Government
Flemish government
The Flemish Government is the executive branch of the Flemish Community and the Flemish Region. It consists of up to a maximum of eleven ministers, chosen by the Flemish Parliament...
, as 7 of the adjacent municipalities lie within the Flemish Region
Flemish Region
The Flemish Region is one of the three official regions of the Kingdom of Belgium—alongside the Walloon Region and the Brussels-Capital Region. Colloquially, it is usually simply referred to as Flanders, of which it is the institutional iteration within the context of the Belgian political system...
. This station is capable of treating the water of 1,100,000 inhabitants and should finally be capable of fully purifying the Senne, which had long caused much of the pollution of the Scheldt
Scheldt
The Scheldt is a 350 km long river in northern France, western Belgium and the southwestern part of the Netherlands...
river.