The Zuid-Willemsvaart (; translated: South William's Canal) is a canal in the south of the Netherlands and the east of Belgium.
Route The Zuid-Willemsvaart is a canal in the provinces Limburg (Netherlands), Limburg (Belgium), and North Brabant. Several important canals are connected to it, e.g. the Campine Canals and the Wilhelmina Canal. On its 122 km route it passes cities like Maastricht, Maasmechelen, Bree, Weert, Helmond, and 's-Hertogenbosch. Nowadays most commercial shipping activity on the canal is local.
History
Plans Previous to the construction of the Zuid-Willemsvaart, there were many plans for making a canal from 's-Hertogenbosch towards the Belgian border. Most of these centered on canalizing the Aa, the stream bed of which is closely followed by the Zuid-Willemsvaart for most of its route. The geographical proximity to the Aa indicates a relation between these older plans and the construction of the Zuid-Willemsvaart, but the relation is only in the suitability of the drainage basin of the Aa for digging most of the Zuid-Willemsvaart.
When the United Kingdom of the Netherlands was founded in 1815, its commercial center was formed by the harbors in the west, but its industrial center was near Liège. Communication between the two over the Meuse was difficult until the funds to create a canal became available. The Zuid-Willemsvaart was planned as a shortcut of the river Meuse between the cities of Maastricht and 's-Hertogenbosch. It shortened the distance of shipping traffic from 233 km to 122 km, but that was not a primary goal of constructing the canal. The canal was dug with little regard for connecting local communities.
The problem of the Meuse river was the relatively big height difference upwards of Venlo. This was 34 cm/km, or three times that of the Rhine near Emmerich. It caused that in summer there was often too little water in the Meuse for shipping. And in the winter there was often so much water that navigation became dangerous. Towing ships or barges upriver was difficult in all seasons. A canal that cut corners and went through a more flat terrain would be a far more reliable waterway. It would always have enough water and would allow easy transport upstream.
Design On 23 February 1818 Inspector General A.F. Goudriaan got orders to design the canal from Maastricht to 's-Hertogenbosch. On 15 May 1819 he presented his design. It called for a canal of 2.1 m deep, 10 m wide at the floor and 18 m wide on the water level. Practical draught for ships would be 188 cm. On the first stretch between Maastricht and the lock at Hocht, this draught would later be only 157 cm in case of draught. The canal would have 19 locks. Each with a passage width of 7 m and a length of at least 50 m.
Naming In this perspective, the naming of the canal after King William I of the Netherlands on 11 November 1822 is justified. "South" was added to avoid confusion with two other canals commissioned by and named after the king: the Willemskanaal near Zwolle and the Noord-Willemskanaal in Groningen province. The naming happened on 11 November 1822, when the first stone of the constructions on the canal (locks, bridges etc.) was laid in 's-Hertogenbosch at Lock 1 . This was done by the governor of Limburg.
Initial Construction The first part of the canal that was constructed, was the part from 's-Hertogenbosch to Veghel, and from there to Helmond. This part was tendered on 10 April 1822. The digging was offered in six lots. Between 's-Hertogenbosch and Veghel it was to have three or four locks and a number of drawbridges and culverts. In November 1822 the construction of Lock 1 in 's-Hertogenbosch was started (cf. above).
The second part ran from Helmond to a point on the road between Someren and Asten. On 19 March 1823 digging this stretch was offered in two lots, and was tendered together with three locks on the already dug out stretch between Veghel and Helmond, and the drawbridges and culverts on that stretch. Also in 1823, a third part was tendered on 25 March. It was tendered in two lots and consisted of the already present waterway below Smeermaas, through the Caberg to the fortress of Maastricht.
In 1824 a fourth, fifth and sixth part were tendered. The fourth part stretched from the road between Someren and Asten to the provincial boundary between North Brabant and Limburg. It was tendered on 25 February 1824, together with 6 locks between Helmond and the provincial boundary as well as a drawbridge and culverts. On 2 March 1824 the fifth part was tendered. This consisted of: Digging the canal from the provincial boundary to its junction with the former Noorderkanaal, or Grand Canal du Nord. The renovation of the Grand Canal du Nord on the stretch that was part of the Zuid-Willemsvaart, and the construction or completion of some of its infrastructure. Building six locks, 10 drawbridges and a number of culverts. On 16 March 1824 a sixth part was tendered. It consisted of: Digging the basin, or city harbor in Maastricht, with a lock on the Meuse. Executing a lot of works to lead the canal through the fortification of Maastricht, including three tunnels through the walls, and towards the basin.
On 14 September 1825 the construction of the canal through 's-Hertogenbosch was tendered. This also included the construction of three bridges inside the city. A flood lock was planned on the eastern city walls. It had the peculiar characteristic of being mainly planned to cause or maintain a flood, instead of preventing it. However, the technique was the same as that of a flood lock. It was also a double flood lock, and therefore it could be used to lift ships, which came in handy if it caused or maintained a flood. However, in normal circumstances the flood lock would be open, and therefore it was not in the numbered list of locks. When it later began to permanently function as a lock, it was named Sluis 0, or Lock 0, because it was just downstream of Lock 1.
Opening The canal was opened in Maastricht on 24 August 1826. The opening was done by the governor of Limburg. After a speech, the dignitaries sailed down the canal to Smeermaas and disembarked near Hocht. They then continued to Pietersheim Manor () by carriage. After a splendid dinner the company arrived back in the basin of Maastricht near 8 o'clock in the evening. Meanwhile, many festivities for the population had taken place. At 10 o'clock in the evening the ball for the upper class started. It featured loaded tables, and continued until the early morning.
The nineteenth century The canal created new possibilities for development of the poor towns on the sandy grounds of North Brabant. In Helmond a textile manufacturing industry was developed. In Veghel the harbor attracted several industries. In Weert many fir were planted after transport to Maastricht and Liège became feasible. In many villages of North-Brabant it also became profitable to rear cattle for customers outside the province.
One of the first activities on the canal was a regular service for passengers and freight between 's-Hertogenbosch and Maastricht. The journey took two days, with an overnight stay in Weert.
Belgian independence The secession of the southern portion of the country in 1830 created an unexpected situation: the canal was closed for cross-border traffic. It led to a prolonged closure, but on 22 June 1839 the first barge with a Belgian flag arrived in Helmond from Liège. It was loaded with iron goods and roof shingles. In 1841 over 4,000 ships and barges passed the canal.
In 1846 the Eindhovensch Kanaal was opened. It connected Eindhoven to the canal just below Helmond. In the 1850s irrigation works in the Belgian Campine and surroundings dramatically increased the flow of water to the Zuid-Willemsvaart. This led to the water actually flowing over the lock doors of the canal.
Wessem-Nederweert Canal In the 1920s the Wessem-Nederweert Canal was constructed. It starts at the Meuse near Wessem, and connects to the Zuid-Willemsvaart just south of Nederweert, where the Zuid-Willemsvaart makes a 90 degree turn to the southwest. During construction, lock 14 and lock 15, north of the junction were demolished. A new Lock 15 was built just west of the junction, and a lock was built at the western end of the Noordervaart. The new lock 15 bridged a rise of 4.85 m. Lock 16, southwest of Weert was renovated. Both locks got an increased passage width of 7.50 m instead of 7 m. The cill of the locks was laid deeper, at 2.50 m below canal level. In 1964 there was more traffic on the Wessem-Nederweert Canal than on any part of the Zuid-Willemsvaart.
Modernization
Plans to modernize the canal Already in the early 1960s there were plans to upgrade the canal. There was no intention to execute these plans on short notice, but some aspects were determined in order to ease later implementation.
Situation of the canal in 1974 In 1974 an overview of traffic on the canal was made by collecting shipping data of Sluis 0 in 's-Hertogenbosch, and of Sluis 13, somewhat south of Someren, near Limburg. Overall, it showed that from 1960 to 1974 the number of ships had decreased, while the total amount of cargo had remained the same.
At Sluis 0, almost all upstream vessels were loaded. By 1974 the vast majority unloaded at Veghel, some continued to Helmond, and only a tiny fraction continued further upstream with cargo. At Sluis 0 downstream cargo had decreased from about 5,000 vessels in 1960 to only a few hundred loaded vessels in 1974. At Sluis 13 the reverse was true. Here almost all vessels heading north were loaded. Most went to the Wilhelmina Canal and only some to Veghel. At Sluis 13 most of the upstream vessels were empty.
The overview showed that not many ships travelled the entire canal. Most of them went from the Meuse near 's-Hertogenbosch to Veghel or Helmond and then returned. A smaller amount came from the Meuse in Limburg, sailed to the Wilhelmina Canal, and then returned. Furthermore, not much cargo was loaded along the Zuid-Willemsvaart.
As regards the future of transport on the canal, the conclusion was that Water transport had successfully maintained its position against increased competition by road transport. This had been done by increasing productivity, i.e. ship size and engine power. A clear limit to a further increase were the number and size of the original locks, and the small width (profile) of the canal.
In 1975 the idea was that after modernization, the average size of vessels would double in twenty years. Transport speed would be increased by replacing the many old locks with a limited number of large modern locks. All this would lower transport cost, and again make the Zuid-Willemsvaart suitable as a shortcut of the Meuse.
The Helmond detour (1981-1993)
In Helmond the canal had been dug just west of the town's center. In 1957 20,000 vessels passed Sluis 7 (Lock 7) and the center of Helmond. By 1960, motorized road traffic had quadrupled in ten years. It caused chaos near the bridges over the canal. These had to be opened often, and were anyhow unsuitable for the increased traffic. Rijkswaterstaat then made a plan to create a new course for the canal east of Helmond. The detour was about as long as the previous course, and though it was planned to start north of lock 9, in the end it would start south of it.
The Helmond detour would be constructed first. It would lead to the strange situation that for many years the Helmond detour was the widest part of the canal, but was unreachable for larger vessels. The logic was that the existing section through Helmond could not be upgraded, and solving the road traffic problem in Helmond could not be postponed as long as the general upgrade of the canal. Therefore, the decision about the Helmond detour was taken while the options for other parts of the canal remained open In May 1971 the route of the detour was determined.