The Berendrecht Lock is the world's second-largest lock, providing access to the right-bank docks of the Port of Antwerp in Belgium.
Post World War II, work started on the Grote Doorsteek, an ambitious plan which ultimately resulted in the extension of the Antwerp docks on the right bank of the Scheldt to the Netherlands border. In 1967, the company completed the construction of the Zandvliet Lock (Zandvlietsluis), then the world's largest lock.
In 1989, needing to accommodate a wider Post-Panamax ship, the company built a new lock just to the south of the Zandvliet lock. The Berendrecht Lock, which at 68 metres (223 ft) is 11 metres (36 ft) wider. Bascule bridges at the ends of each lock, (Zandvliet and Frederik-Hendrik bridges across the Zandlievet Lock; and Oudendijk and Berendrecht bridges across the Berendrecht Lock), allow full road traffic access around the port. [1] The two locks now work as a doubled lock system.
Completion of the Berendrecht Lock allowed the extended development of the right bank docks complex, and later the creation of fast turnaround tidal berths, both on the right bank (Europa Terminal and the North Sea Terminal), and on the left bank (the Deurganck Dock). [2]
In both length and total volume (length×breadth×difference in water levels), the Berendrecht Lock is the second-largest in the world.
In November 2011, work started on the Kieldrecht Lock which became in June 2016 the world's new largest lock on the left bank of the Scheldt. Based on the design of the Berendrecht Lock, it has the same length and width, but with an operational depth (TAW) of 17.8 metres (58 ft). [3]
The Scheldt is a 435-kilometre-long (270 mi) river that flows through northern France, western Belgium, and the southwestern part of the Netherlands, with its mouth at the North Sea. Its name is derived from an adjective corresponding to Old English sċeald ("shallow"), Modern English shoal, Low German schol, West Frisian skol, and obsolete Swedish skäll ("thin").
The Ghent–Terneuzen Canal, also known as the "Sea Canal" (Zeekanaal) is a canal linking Ghent in Belgium to the port of Terneuzen on the Westerschelde (Scheldt) Estuary in the Netherlands, thereby providing the former with better access to the sea.
Europoort is an area of the Port of Rotterdam and the adjoining industrial area in the Netherlands. Being situated at Southside of the mouth of the rivers Rhine and Meuse with the hinterland consisting of the Netherlands, Germany, Belgium and partly France, Europoort is one of the world's busiest ports and considered a major entry to Europe. The port handled 12 million containers in 2015.
Panamax and New Panamax are terms for the size limits for ships travelling through the Panama Canal. The limits and requirements are published by the Panama Canal Authority (ACP) in a publication titled "Vessel Requirements". These requirements also describe topics like exceptional dry seasonal limits, propulsion, communications, and detailed ship design.
The National Redoubt was a strategic defensive belt of fortifications built in Belgium. The National redoubt was the infrastructural cornerstone of Belgian defensive strategy from 1890–1940.
The Albert Canal is a canal located in northeastern Belgium, which was named for King Albert I of Belgium. The Albert Canal connects Antwerp with Liège, and also the Meuse river with the Scheldt river. It also connects with the Dessel–Turnhout–Schoten Canal, and its total length is 129.5 kilometres (80.5 mi).
Richmond Lock and Footbridge is a lock, rising and falling low-tide barrage integrating controlled sluices and pair of pedestrian bridges on the River Thames in southwest London, England, and is a Grade II* listed structure. It is the furthest downstream of the forty-five Thames locks and the only one owned and operated by the Port of London Authority. It was opened in 1894 and is north-west of the centre of Richmond in a semi-urban part of southwest London. Downstream are Syon Park and Kew Gardens on opposite banks. It connects the promenade at Richmond with the neighbouring district of St. Margarets on the west bank during the day and is closed at night to pedestrians – after 19:30 GMT or after 21:30 when BST is in use. At high tide the sluice gates are raised and partly hidden behind metal arches forming twin footbridges.
Sharpness is an English port in Gloucestershire, one of the most inland in Britain, and eighth largest in the South West England region. It is on the River Severn at grid reference SO669027, at a point where the tidal range, though less than at Avonmouth downstream, is still large.
"Suezmax" is a naval architecture term for the largest ship measurements capable of transiting the Suez Canal in a laden condition, and is almost exclusively used in reference to tankers. The limiting factors are beam, draft, height, and length.
Berendrecht is a neighbourhood and former village in Antwerp province in Belgium. Its name means "dike of the bear", according to the area's dialect, or "dike of a man called Bear", or "passage by the marsh". But drecht or tricht means "ferry" or "crossing", and ber or bere in Indo-European means "dam", "defence against water" : the resulting meaning is "river crossing at a dam".
The Port of Antwerp is the port of the city of Antwerp, Belgium. It is located in Flanders, mainly in the province of Antwerp, but also partially in East Flanders. It is a seaport in the heart of Europe accessible to capesize ships. It is Europe's second-largest seaport, after that of Rotterdam. Antwerp stands at the upper end of the tidal estuary of the Scheldt. The estuary is navigable by ships of more than 100,000 Gross Tons as far as 80 km inland. Like the Port of Hamburg, the Port of Antwerp's inland location provides a more central location in Europe than the majority of North Sea ports. Antwerp's docks are connected to the hinterland by rail, road, and river and canal waterways. As a result, the port of Antwerp has become one of Europe's largest seaports, ranking second behind Rotterdam by total freight shipped. Its international rankings vary from 11th to 20th (AAPA). In 2012, the Port of Antwerp handled 14,220 sea trade ships, 57,044 inland barges, and offered liner services to 800 different maritime destinations.
The Port of Rotterdam is the largest seaport in Europe, and the world's largest seaport outside of East Asia, located in and near the city of Rotterdam, in the province of South Holland in the Netherlands. From 1962 until 2004, it was the world's busiest port by annual cargo tonnage. It was overtaken first in 2004 by the port of Singapore, and since then by Shanghai and other very large Chinese seaports. In 2020, Rotterdam was the world's tenth-largest container port in terms of twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU) handled. In 2017, Rotterdam was also the world's tenth-largest cargo port in terms of annual cargo tonnage.
The Rhine–Herne Canal is a 45.6-kilometre-long (28.3 mi) transportation canal in the Ruhr area of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, with five canal locks. The canal was built over a period of eight years and connects the harbour in Duisburg on the Rhine with the Dortmund-Ems Canal near Henrichenburg, following the valley of the Emscher. It was widened in the 1980s. The Rhein-Herne canal ship was designed specifically for this canal; normally of about 1300–1350 ton capacity, it has a maximum draft of 2.50 metres (8.2 ft), a length of approximately 80 metres (260 ft), and maximum beam of 9.50 metres (31.2 ft).
The Brussels–Scheldt Maritime Canal, also known as the Willebroek Canal amongst other similar names, is an important canal in Belgium. The 28-kilometre-long (17 mi) canal has a width of 30 metres (98 ft) and a draught of 2 metres, and connects Brussels with the Scheldt river at Wintam and ultimately the sea.
The Louis Joubert Lock, also known as the Normandie Dock, is a lock and major dry dock located in the port of Saint-Nazaire in Loire-Atlantique, northwestern France.
Antwerp is a city and a municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of Antwerp Province, and the third largest city in Belgium by area at 204.51 km2 (78.96 sq mi) after Tournai and Couvin. With a population of 536,079, it is the most populous municipality in Belgium, and with a metropolitan population of over 1,200,000 people, the country's second-largest metropolitan region after Brussels.
The Royers lock is a tidal lock located in Belgium, giving access to the right bank docks in the Port of Antwerp and the Albert Canal. Although it was built for sea-going vessels, it is now mostly used by riverboats.
The Kieldrecht Lock, referred to as the Deurgank Dock Lock during construction, is the largest lock in the world when only considering water volume. The Kieldrecht Lock is the newer of two locks that give access to the left-bank docks of the Port of Antwerp in Belgium, between the Scheldt river and the Waasland Canal. The creation of the Kieldrecht lock has relieved the amount of traffic for the Waasland Canal that the Kallo Lock was experiencing. The lock, situated in the municipality of Beveren, was opened on 10 June 2016 in the presence of King Philippe of Belgium.
The Stormvloedkering Hollandse IJssel, Hollandse IJsselkering or Algerakering is a storm surge barrier located on the Hollandse IJssel, at the municipal boundary of Capelle aan den IJssel and Krimpen aan den IJssel, east of Rotterdam in The Netherlands. The construction of the works comprised the first project of the Delta Works, undertaken in response to the disastrous effects of the North Sea flood of 1953. Prior to 1954, the spelling Hollandsche was used in the official name.