Juliana Canal
Encyclopedia
Juliana of the Netherlands
Juliana was the Queen regnant of the Kingdom of the Netherlands between 1948 and 1980. She was the only child of Queen Wilhelmina and Prince Henry...
of the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
, is a 36 km long canal
Canal
Canals are man-made channels for water. There are two types of canal:#Waterways: navigable transportation canals used for carrying ships and boats shipping goods and conveying people, further subdivided into two kinds:...
in the southern Netherlands, providing a bypass of an unnavigable section of the river
River
A river is a natural watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, a lake, a sea, or another river. In a few cases, a river simply flows into the ground or dries up completely before reaching another body of water. Small rivers may also be called by several other names, including...
Meuse
Meuse River
The Maas or Meuse is a major European river, rising in France and flowing through Belgium and the Netherlands before draining into the North Sea...
between Maastricht
Maastricht
Maastricht is situated on both sides of the Meuse river in the south-eastern part of the Netherlands, on the Belgian border and near the German border...
and Maasbracht
Maasbracht
Maasbracht is a town in the southeastern Netherlands. It was a separate municipality until January 1, 2007, when it became a part of the new municipality of Maasgouw. Footballer Mark van Bommel was born in Maasbracht.-External links:*...
. It is an important transport connection between the ports of the Rhine delta and the industrial areas of southern Limburg
Limburg (Netherlands)
Limburg is the southernmost of the twelve provinces of the Netherlands. It is located in the southeastern part of the country and bordered by the province of Gelderland to the north, Germany to the east, Belgium to the south and part of the west, andthe Dutch province of North Brabant partly to...
and southern Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
.
The Juliana Canal was constructed in the 1920s and 1930s, and opened in 1935. It was important for the development of coal mining in southern Limburg (terminated in the 1970s), since it is suited for larger ships than the older Zuid-Willemsvaart
Zuid-Willemsvaart
The Zuid-Willemsvaart is a canal in the southern Netherlands, providing a shortcut in river Meuse between the cities of Maastricht and 's-Hertogenbosch...
, which runs from 's-Hertogenbosch to Maastricht
Maastricht
Maastricht is situated on both sides of the Meuse river in the south-eastern part of the Netherlands, on the Belgian border and near the German border...
, partly through Belgium. The Juliana Canal runs parallel to the Meuse, at maximum 3 km east of the river. Between Maasbracht and Maastricht, the canal gains approximately 25 m of elevation. There are locks
Lock (water transport)
A lock is a device for raising and lowering boats between stretches of water of different levels on river and canal waterways. The distinguishing feature of a lock is a fixed chamber in which the water level can be varied; whereas in a caisson lock, a boat lift, or on a canal inclined plane, it is...
at Limmel (near Maastricht), Born
Born (Netherlands)
Born is a town of approximately 6,000 inhabitants in the Dutch municipality of Sittard-Geleen. It has a port on the Julianakanaal . Born is also the site of the car factory Nedcar. It has a zoo....
, and Maasbracht. Until 1965 there used to be another lock near Roosteren
Roosteren
Roosteren is a village in the Dutch province of Limburg. It is located in the municipality of Echt-Susteren.Roosteren was a separate municipality until 1982, when it was merged with Susteren. The municipality also covered the villages of Visserweert, Kokkelert, and Oud-Roosteren.-External links:...
. When the locks of Born and Maasbracht were modernized, these became unnecessary and were destroyed. There are port
Port
A port is a location on a coast or shore containing one or more harbors where ships can dock and transfer people or cargo to or from land....
s at Maastricht, Stein
Stein, Limburg
Stein is a municipality and a city in the southeastern Netherlands. The municipality has 25660 inhabitants and covers an area of 22.77 square km ....
, Born and Maasbracht. The port at Stein used to be the second large inland port in Europe, after Duisburg
Duisburg
- History :A legend recorded by Johannes Aventinus holds that Duisburg, was built by the eponymous Tuisto, mythical progenitor of Germans, ca. 2395 BC...
in Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
. This was because of the Dutch State Mines. All the coal mines
Coal mining
The goal of coal mining is to obtain coal from the ground. Coal is valued for its energy content, and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extraction of iron from iron ore and for cement production. In the United States,...
the Netherlands had were in this area. Today, DSM
DSM (company)
DSM is a multinational life sciences and materials sciences-based company. DSM's global end markets include food and dietary supplements, personal care, feed, pharmaceuticals, medical devices, automotive, paints, electrical and electronics, life protection, alternative energy and bio-based materials...
still owns a part of the port.
During the construction of the canal, several challenges had to be overcome. Near Elsloo, the builders had to dig deep into a steep hill, called the Scharberg. At this section, the canal is built between a steep hill on one side, and the river Meuse
Meuse
Meuse is a department in northeast France, named after the River Meuse.-History:Meuse is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790...
on the other side, only 50 metres away. Here, archeologists found many teeth, dating back to the Miocene
Miocene
The Miocene is a geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about . The Miocene was named by Sir Charles Lyell. Its name comes from the Greek words and and means "less recent" because it has 18% fewer modern sea invertebrates than the Pliocene. The Miocene follows the Oligocene...
. Unlike a normal canal, the Juliana Canal was not completely dug. Because of the difference in height, the canal couldn't be built in the ground, so the constructors made huge dikes. The height of the dike can vary from none to almost 50 metres. The bottom of the canal was then covered with a thick layer of rocks, coming from the river Meuse
Meuse
Meuse is a department in northeast France, named after the River Meuse.-History:Meuse is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790...
.
In World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
the canal had an important strategic role. In 1940, it stopped the German troops invading Flanders. This gave the Belgians more time to mobilize their army and strengthen their defence lines. When the Netherlands surrendered, the Germans built a lot of bunkers on both sides of the canal. In 1944, when the allied forces where chasing after the retreating Germans, they were also stopped by the canal, as the Germans blew up all the bridges.
After the war, almost all of the old steel arch bridge
Arch bridge
An arch bridge is a bridge with abutments at each end shaped as a curved arch. Arch bridges work by transferring the weight of the bridge and its loads partially into a horizontal thrust restrained by the abutments at either side...
s were repaired. The bridge of Elsloo, standing higher above the canal and being much longer than the other bridges, could not be replaced until the 1960s. Today, it's the only bridge (except the highway bridge to Belgium, built in the 1970s) that has no arch.
On January 27, 2004, the canal became an international news item. During the night, one of the dikes was washed away. When a man walking on the dike suddenly saw that the path in front of him had just disappeared, he called the firefighters. In the evening, the old centre of Stein was evacuated, while massive amounts of water were only held back by sandbags. After an investigation, the cause was found. An 80 year old water supply line
Water supply
Water supply is the provision of water by public utilities, commercial organisations, community endeavours or by individuals, usually via a system of pumps and pipes...
, which had not been in use anymore and was forgotten, but which was still under pressure, started to leak, causing the dike to erode from the inside out.