The Oosterschelde is a former estuary in the province of Zeeland in the Netherlands. Between Schouwen-Duiveland and Tholen in the north and Noord-Beveland and Zuid-Beveland in the south. It is also home to the largest national park in the Netherlands, established in 2002.
In Roman times it was the main estuary of the Scheldt River. Before the flood of St. Felix in 1530. It flowed north as a river from the eastern end of the Westerschelde. It turned west just west of Bergen op Zoom and then west along the northern edge of today’s Verdronken Land van Reimerswaal before widening into an estuary. Parts of this lost land have been reclaimed. This reduced part of the connection with the Scheldt River to a narrow channel called the Kreekrak. Which silted up and became unnavigable. In 1867 the Kreekrak was closed by a railway embankment that connected the island of Zuid-Beveland with the mainland of North Brabant. From this point on, the Oosterschelde lost its connection with the Scheldt and ceased to function as an estuary.
There are two road connections between Schouwen-Duiveland and Noord-Beveland. The Oosterscheldedam to the west and the Zeeland Bridge to the east.
After the Oosterschelde flood in the North Sea in 1953, it was decided to close the river with a dike and barrier. The Oosterscheldekering (storm surge barrier on the East Scheldt) between Schouwen-Duiveland and Noord-Beveland is the largest of 13 ambitious delta structures to protect large parts of the Netherlands from flooding. The four-kilometre stretch has huge floodgates that are normally open but can be closed in bad weather.
After the completion of the barrier in 1986. The water flow was reduced and the tidal height difference was reduced from 3.40 metres to 3.25 metres. As a result, no new sand is being deposited on the sand bars – they are now slowly eroding and changing the character of the shoreline.
