Everything about The Albert Canal totally explained
The
Albert Canal (
Dutch:
Albertkanaal,
French:
Canal Albert) is a
canal located in northeastern
Belgium, named after
King Albert I of Belgium. It connects the major cities
Antwerp and
Liège and the
Meuse and
Scheldt rivers. It has a depth of 3.40 m, a free height of 6.70 m and a total length of 129.5 km. The maximum capacity is a
barge of 10,000 tons.
The Albert Canal was dug from
1930-
1939. The
German construction firm
Hochtief AG worked on the canal between
1930 and
1934. It was used for the first time in 1940, but because of
World War II the actual exploitation only started in 1946. Between Antwerp and Liège there's a height difference of 56 meter. A total of 6
canal locks were needed to overcome the difference. Five canal locks have a height difference of 10 meter (located in
Genk,
Diepenbeek,
Hasselt,
Kwaadmechelen and
Olen), the canal lock of
Wijnegem has a difference of 5.45 meter.
In the Thirties, it took about 7 days to travel from Antwerp to Liege over water. These days the same distance is covered in 18 hours. Since the completion of the
Rhine-Main-Danube Canal in 1992, a barge can now travel from Antwerp all the way across
Europe to the
Black Sea.
During the
Second World War the canal functioned as a defense line. It had to secure not only Belgium but also the northeastern
arrondissements of
France. The canal locks were used to control the water level.
In September
1944, the
Second Canadian Division forged a bridgehead across the canal as the Allies fought to liberate Belgium and The Netherlands from Nazi occupation.
Further Information
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