The Nieuwe Merwede is a canal in the Netherlands that runs on the southeast side along the Eiland van Dordrecht. It forms the border between South Holland and North Brabant and serves as the main course of the River Waal. The Nieuwe Merwede runs almost the entire length of the Biesbosch National Park and is an important part of the shipping route between Antwerp and Germany. The artificial river has no bridges or tunnels and only one ferry serves all traffic.
Loop
At Slot Loevestein, the Waal and Maas rivers join to form the Merwede, which is here called the Upper Merwede. At Werkendam it loses most of its water to the Nieuwe Merwede, which flows in a south-westerly direction. The rest of the water flows as the Lower Merwede westwards towards the Dordrecht. Where the river is approximately 21 kilometres long and flows into the Hollands Diep at the mouth of the Amer. The Nieuwe Merwede is a tidal river about 300 to 700 metres wide. Where the point where the Merwede splits in two is important for the distribution of the Rhine in the Netherlands. As in the upper reaches of the Pannerdense Kop, the water in the river is divided in a 3:1 ratio. Locals call this crossing the Crow’s Nest, but the official and historical name is Kop van de Oude Wiel.
History of the Nieuwe Merwede
Centuries ago there was already a river called the Nieuwe Merwede. This name was given to the eastern part of today’s Oude Maas River after this stretch was formed as a channel of the Merwede in the 12th century. Later, this name for this part of the river was forgotten.
Today’s Nieuwe Merwede was dug in 1861-1874 to enable a large part of the water from the upper Merwede (Waal) to be diverted more quickly (as the lower Merwede was too narrow and shallow for this). Prior to the construction of the Nieuwe Merwede, the water was diverted through an intricate network of river arms, streams and canals (Biesbosch). These could become clogged at high water levels and/or when river ice (ice barriers) formed, causing dams to break and flooding elsewhere.
During the dredging of the New Merwede, a number of wide channels were widened and deepened and surrounded by high dykes. These are the Grote Hel/Westkil, the Gat van de Puttesteek, the Gat van de Vogelaar and the Gat van Kielen. All other streams that joined the Nieuwe Merwede were dammed upstream. Only three of these streams, the Steurgat, the Gat van den Hardenhoek and the Wantij, retain a boat connection to the Nieuwe Merwede and can be accessed by locks (namely the Biesbosch lock, the Spierings lock and the Otters lock). Two streams have been dammed downstream by breakwaters. These are the breakwater from Deeneplaat to Anna Jacominalaat, which dammed the Gat van de Visschen, and the so-called Dam van Engeland. The latter was dammed by the Gat van Kielen.
