The Drongelens Canal is a drainage canal that runs from 's-Hertogenbosch to Drongelen in North Brabant. The colloquial Dutch name, and the name used on street signs is . The official Dutch name is .
History
The need to separate the Meuse and the Waal
Seasonal flooding was a regular event in the drainage basin of the Aa and Dommel. It often became disastrous when these rivers could not discharge into the Meuse. This happened when either the Meuse or the Rhine were at a high level, often because of melting snow upstream. The high chance for flood disasters in the region was caused by the fact that since 1273, the Meuse discharged into the Waal somewhat downstream of 's-Hertogenbosch. This way extreme flooding on the left bank of the Meuse often occurred because the Rhine was high.
In the late 1830s Belgium started to irrigate the Campine with water from the Meuse. This caused severe problems for shipping on the Meuse. Other problems downstream were that the Zuid-Willemsvaart, the Aa, Dommel, and Leij could hardly process the increased amount of water from the Campine. The Dutch themselves further aggravated the problem from the 1850s, when they started to dig for peat in the Peel.
In 1823 Baron C.R.T. Krayenhoff had proposed a design to separate the Waal and the Meuse. Some measures were taken in the mid-nineteenth century. In 1859 a lock was made in the old Canal of St. Andries, upstream of 's-Hertogenbosch. In 1861-1874 the Nieuwe Merwede was dug. The disastrous flood season of late December 1880 would finally induce the government to take effective measures. The flood included a breach in the dykes near Nieuwkuijk and put the complete Land van Heusden en Altena under water. It caused so much damage that in January 1883 the law to move the mouth of the Meuse was passed.
The law led to the construction of the river / canal Bergsche Maas, from Well just west of 's-Hertogenbosch, to the Amer west of Geertruidenberg. This was such a big project that it was completed only in 1904.
Projected Canal 's-Hertogenbosch to Hedikhuizen The 1883 law to move the mouth of the Meuse foresaw the construction of some drainage channels. For 's-Hertogenboch and the Dieze a drainage canal was projected from near 's-Hertogenosch to Hedikhuizen (between 's-Hertogenbosch and Heusden). This canal was to take all the water of the Leij, but only the excessive water of the Dommel, which was said to sometimes discharge 40 m3 water per second. During the debate about the law the minister noted that this project canal to Hedikhuizen perhaps did not belong in the overall law, because it served a local interest.
Construction of the Zestig-Else bridge
's-Hertogenbosch was connected to the Utrecht–Boxtel railway on 1 November 1868, when the stretch from 's-Hertogenbosch to Vught opened. Of course the railroad was constructed on a high dyke, so it would not be bothered by the regular flooding near 's-Hertogenbosch. However, this railroad dyke would not be able to stop these floods, and so wide passageways had to be made for the water to pass it.
In October 1868 the construction of an overflow in the railroad had been tendered. It was constructed north and opposite of Deuteren Bastion. Due to its length this was called the 100 meter bridge This 100 m bridge was somewhat to the north of where the Drongelens Canal would be.
In the 1880s, the Lage Zwaluwe-'s-Hertogenbosch railway constructed. It required the track to bend to the west south of 's-Hertogenbosch railway station, but due to the 100 m bridge, there was not enough space to make a safe bend before the 100 m bridge. Making a bend after the bridge would make the proposed canal exit north of the dyke on which this track would be, and was also unacceptable. Therefore, authorities decided to make a new overflow bridge to the south, which would also by used by the new canal. This would become the 60 m bridge , named for its 6 arcs of 10 m each.
The new Zestig-Else bridge was built 300 m south of the old bridge. As an overflow in the railroad dyke it did not span a river or canal. Instead, it had a wall between its pillars. On each side of this wall there was a bed to prevent the bottom from eroding. This threshold had a height of 2-2.2 m above N.A.P. This way the canal would only drain the Dommel and Aa basin when the water rose above that level.
In 1997 the Zestig-Else bridge would be replaced when the number of tracks to the south was expanded. It seems that this bridge does not contain an overflow between its pillars.
The current Drongelens Canal is planned
A change of plans By 1889, the government plans for the drainage canal to Hedikhuizen had changed. The new plan was for the current canal from 's-Hertogenbosch to Drongelen, west of Heusden. The local water board was enthusiastic, because the drainage would then become dependent on the lower Meuse level near Drongelen, instead of that near Fort Crèvecoeur. It did have some concerns. The canal was thought to be a bit small, so it required that the Dieze would also remain a drainage river. It also thought that the Dieze / Dommel would remain too high for good drainage of the surrounding lands.
Already in 1891, the acquisition of land for the new canal started. In December 1891 the law to acquire these by eminent domain (compulsory purchase) was proposed. This law also had the route of the canal. It started at the 60 m wide bridge in the Utrecht–Boxtel railway, just south of the railway station of 's-Hertogenbosch. It then south west of this railway, along Fort Isabella, and passing it. It then followed the Kampdijk to the west, and then the dyke of the Binnenpolder of Cromvoirt. It then continued through the heaths of Helvoirt and Drunen and then north to Baardwijk, and from there, northwest to the Meuse. The mouth of the canal was at Gansoyen, a village that would disappear in 1894 due to the digging of the Bergse Maas. Therefore, the official name refers to Drongelen, a nearby village on the other side of the Meuse.
The final plan determined a discharge capacity of the canal of 80 m3/s. This was an estimation of the maximum combined discharge of Dommel and Aa. It was a major change of the plan from the original plan, which only saw to discharging the water of the Leij, and the excess water of the Dommel. Now it would be able to process all of the water of these three rivers. From the perspective of drainage, it would move the mouth of the Dieze. The Dieze would then become available to process the waters of the Beersche Maas. Total cost of the canal would be 1,300,000 guilders, twice that of the earlier Hedikhuizen plan.
The idea behind the change of plan seemed to be that several overflow areas would no longer be necessary, and would remain dry every season. This would be beneficial to somebody, but not for the local (water) authorities, which paid for part of the canal. They stated that the new plan blocked drainage of the Beerse Maas to the Baardwijksche Overlaat, and that the Hedikhuizen plan did not. This way they thought they paid for better drainage upstream, but lost the advantage of having their lands irrigated with fertile Meuse water, instead of the water from Aa and Dommel, which did not deposit much fertile sediment.
Another point of view is that the water board simply wanted to annul its part of the bill for the movement of the Meuse mouth, which part came to a staggering 2,000,000 guilders. In answer to the protests of the water boards, the minister stated that the movement of the mouth of the Meuse by itself, brought about the closure of the Baardwijkse Overlaat. The Bergsche Maas would require a dyke at the regular height for rivers, and an overflow area could not function in such circumstances. Therefore, it was logical that the Beerse Maas had to discharge on the Dieze.
Delayed construction Now the plan for the Drongelens Canal got mixed up with a plan for the Dieze Canal, and a lock to stop the Beerse Maas water near the railway station in 's-Hertogenbosch. Money for all three was brought on the 1896 budget. The reason for this was that the lock at Crèvecoeur would become useless, because its bottom would be too high for the lowered Meuse level. It would get a new purpose as a sluice, only suitable for ships when the level of the Meuse was high. The Dieze Canal from Engelen to the Meuse would include a new deeper lock for ships.
The sluice at the end of the proposed canal, the Bovenlandse Sluis, was built way before the canal was built. The reason was that it would be more economical to make one construction of the lock and a culvert that led the Oude Maasje below the Drongelens Canal. On 9 December 1896 there was a tender for the sluice. This sluice was finished in 1899. The Drongelens canal was reported ready and functioning in 1902, before the Bergse Maas was opened., but this was in error.
Construction of the Drongelens Canal
Opening of the Bergsche Maas On 18 August 1904 the Bergsche Maas was officially opened by the queen. Nevertheless, in early 1905 the work to construct the canal still had to start, even though everything (sluice, threshold) was ready to start the work. Of course, the above-mentioned conflict between the water board and the government played its part. However, it is probable that authorities first wanted to see the effects of the move of the mouth of the Meuse before continuing work on the canal.
As expected, the effects of the move by themselves were not that beneficial for the drainage of Dommel and Aa. After the winter of 1904-1905 many lands near 's-Hertogenbosch were still under water in April. In the winter of 1905-1906 the Meuse was almost as high as in the winter of 1880–1881. The water board noted that the average Meuse level near Heusden was 2 m lower, compared to the previous years. Now the general water board of Northeast North Brabant changed its mind and started to push for completion of the canal. The high Meuse also caused that the Beerse Maas flowed in early 1906, something that was expected to become exceptional. Some experts then also started to doubt whether the Drongelens canal would have the supposed benefits.
Actual construction In 1906 works at the start of the canal were taken up again. In August 1906 works on the protective bed of the threshold in 's-Hertogenbosch were underway again. It was now said to be near the 'former' Honderdelsche Brug. In November 1906 the final design drawings for the canal were ready, and the order was about to be tendered. At that moment the works on the extremities of the canal were already finished, or almost finished. The work was to be completed by 1 September 1909.
In April 1907 the order for construction was given to contractors De Groot and Calis, who made the lowest bid. The first choice that had to be made for construction, was whether it would be 'dry' or 'wet'. Wet construction would mean dredging a canal from 's-Hertogenbosch to Drongelen. Dry construction would mean digging / excavating a canal from Drongelen to 's-Hertogenbosch, and letting the water in later. The contractors chose dry construction, which meant that they started near Baardwijk.
By May 1907 a temporary railroad was under construction near Baardwijk. By June 1907 about 160 workers were busy. In September 1907 310,000 guilders were brought on the government budget for 1908 as second term for the canal. In June 1908 a bridge near Baardwijk for the tramway was tested. At the end of 1908 the canal reported to be almost ready.