The Nieuwe Waterweg is the last part of the connection from Rotterdam to the North Sea. It was completed in 1872; For its construction, the dunes had to be dug over a length of 4.3 km at this point. Today lies at the mouth of the North Sea Hook of Holland. The eastern border is now at the Maeslant storm surge barrier. Exactly at this point the combination of Oude Maas and Nieuwe Maas, Het Scheur, dammed.
background
Rotterdam had already become one of the largest port cities in the world in the middle of the 19th century. This was mainly a consequence of the transit traffic to Germany and Great Britain. The increase in ship movements, however, led to a capacity problem: the Rhine-Meuse delta was very branched out, so that it became more and more difficult to reach the port. The hydraulic engineer Pieter Caland was commissioned in 1863 to implement a breakthrough at the "Hook of Holland" (corner of Holland) on the basis of plans drawn up in 1731 (N. S. Cruquius) so that the port of Rotterdam would not be inaccessible. This "New Waterway" was built between 1866 and 1872.
Current and erosion have now widened the fairway quite a bit. Because of the draft of today's mammoth tankers, the fairway has to be excavated continuously.
As the last part of the Delta Works 1997 became the Maeslantkering taken into operation. This storm surge barrier protects Rotterdam by sinking two movable walls into the Nieuwe Waterweg in the event of a (north) west hurricane of more than 10-12 Beaufort.
Het Scheur
Het Scheur is an arm in the Rhine-Meuse delta of around 13 km in length, which runs between the union of Oude Maas and Nieuwe Maas flows to the Nieuwe Waterweg. Originally curved Het Scheur West of Maassluis and Rozenburg at the height of today's Maeslant storm surge barrier to the southwest and flowed south of the nature reserve De Beer at Oostvoorne in the North Sea.
places
- Maassluis
- Rozenburg
- Hook of Holland
Shore connections
- Maassluis - Rozenburg (Car ferry) Tel: 010-5912212.
- Ferry times: All year round. Every day. Mo-Sa 6.10-23.50 h, Su / ft 6.50-23.50.
- Hook of Holland - Europoort - Maasvlakte (Pedestrian / bicycle ferry catamaran "De nieuwe prins") Tel: 010-4476911 (RET) RET.
- Ferry times: All year round. October - mid-March, however, only Mon-Fri 6.20-20.00; Mid March - September Mon-Fri 6.20am-8pm; Sat-Sun 7.10 am-8.00 pm.
- Landing points: Hook of Holland, Europoort, Maasvlakte.
- From July 1, 2009, moorings will be added at the headland of Rozenburg and the Maeslant storm surge barrier.
- bridges is available via the Nieuwe Waterweg Not.
