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| Designated | 29 August 2000 |
| Reference no. | 1273 [1] |
Hollands Diep (pre-1947 spelling: Hollandsch Diep) is a river in the Netherlands, [2] and an estuary of the Rhine and Meuse rivers. Through the Scheldt-Rhine Canal it connects to the Scheldt river and Antwerp.
The Bergse Maas river and the Nieuwe Merwede river join near Lage Zwaluwe to form the Hollands Diep. The Dordtsche Kil connects to it near Moerdijk. Near Numansdorp it splits into the Haringvliet and the Volkerak.
The Hollands Diep was formed as a result of the extensive flood of 1216, which breached the dunes of Voorne and created a deep saltwater inlet (the current Haringvliet). During a second flood, the St. Elizabeth floods, this inlet connected to the Merwede and became an important estuary of the Rhine and Meuse rivers. From that moment on, the freshwater part of the estuary (east of the Hellegatsplein) was renamed Hollands Diep. The former river Striene, that used to connect the Meuse with the Scheldt, was completely destroyed by these floods and can no longer be recognised on maps.
At this point where the Hollands Diep splits, there is a road traffic node on an artificial island (the Hellegatsplein), connecting to the Hoeksche Waard island on the north by the Haringvliet bridge, to the Goeree-Overflakkee on the west by the Hellegatsdam, and to the mainland on the southeast by the Volkerak Sluices.
On the east side of the Hollands Diep the Moerdijk bridges connect the Dordrecht island on the north to the mainland on the south: a road bridge, a railroad bridge; a second railroad bridge has recently been constructed for the HSL-Zuid.
The Meuse or Maas is a major European river, rising in France and flowing through Belgium and the Netherlands before draining into the North Sea from the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta. It has a total length of 925 km.
The Rhine is one of the major European rivers. The river begins in the Swiss canton of Graubünden in the southeastern Swiss Alps. It forms part of the Swiss-Liechtenstein, Swiss-Austrian, and Swiss-German borders. After that the Rhine defines much of the Franco-German border, after which it flows in a mostly northerly direction through the German Rhineland. Finally in Germany, the Rhine turns into a predominantly westerly direction and flows into the Netherlands where it eventually empties into the North Sea. It drains an area of 9,973 sq km and its name derives from the Celtic Rēnos. There are also two German states named after the river, North Rhine-Westphalia and Rhineland-Palatinate.
The Waal is the main distributary branch of the river Rhine flowing approximately 80 km (50 mi) through the Netherlands. It is the major waterway connecting the port of Rotterdam to Germany. Before it reaches Rotterdam, it joins with the Afgedamde Maas near Woudrichem to form the Boven Merwede. Along its length, Nijmegen, Tiel, Zaltbommel and Gorinchem are towns of importance with direct access to the river.
The Delta Works is a series of construction projects in the southwest of the Netherlands to protect a large area of land around the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta from the sea. Constructed between 1954 and 1997, the works consist of dams, sluices, locks, dykes, levees, and storm surge barriers located in the provinces of South Holland and Zeeland.
Zuid-Beveland is part of the province of Zeeland in the Netherlands north of the Western Scheldt and south of the Eastern Scheldt.
Goeree-Overflakkee is the southernmost delta island of the province of South Holland, Netherlands. It is separated from Voorne-Putten and Hoeksche Waard by the Haringvliet, from the mainland of North Brabant by the Volkerak, and from Schouwen-Duiveland by Lake Grevelingen.
The Haringvliet is a large inlet of the North Sea, in the province of South Holland in the Netherlands. It is an important estuary of the Rhine-Meuse delta.
The Bergse Maas is a canal that was constructed in 1904 to be a branch of the river Maas in the Dutch province of North Brabant. The Maas splits near Heusden into the Afgedamde Maas and the Bergse Maas. The Afgedamde Maas flows north until its confluence with the river Waal to form the Merwede, while the Bergse Maas continues west as the main distributary of the Maas. Part of the Merwede rejoins the Bergse Maas to form the Hollands Diep estuary.
The Nieuwe Merwede is a Dutch canal, mainly fed by the river Rhine, that was constructed in 1870 to form a branch in the Rhine–Meuse delta. It was dug along the general trajectories of a number of minor Biesbosch creeks to reduce the risk of flooding by diverting the water away from the Beneden Merwede, and to facilitate navigation and regulate river traffic in the increasingly silted-up delta.
The Scheldt–Rhine Canal (Schelde-Rijnkanaal) in Belgium and the Netherlands connects Antwerp with the Volkerak, and thereby the Scheldt with the Rhine.
De Biesbosch National Park is one of the largest national parks of the Netherlands and one of the last extensive areas of freshwater tidal wetlands in Northwestern Europe. The Biesbosch consists of a large network of rivers and smaller and larger creeks with islands. The vegetation is mostly willow forests, although wet grasslands and fields of reed are common as well. The Biesbosch is an important wetland area for waterfowl and has a rich flora and fauna. It is especially important for migrating geese.
The Lower Rhine flows from Bonn, Germany, to the North Sea at Hook of Holland, Netherlands ; alternatively, Lower Rhine may refer to the part upstream of Pannerdens Kop, excluding the Nederrijn.
The Merwede is the name of several connected stretches of river in the Netherlands, between the cities of Woudrichem, Dordrecht and Papendrecht. The river is part of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta and is mostly fed by the river Rhine.
The Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta is a river delta in the Netherlands formed by the confluence of the Rhine, the Meuse and the Scheldt rivers. In some cases, the Scheldt delta is considered a separate delta to the Rhine–Meuse delta. The result is a multitude of islands, branches and branch names that may at first sight look bewildering, especially as a waterway that appears to be one continuous stream may change names as many as seven times, e.g. Rhine → Bijlands Kanaal → Pannerdens Kanaal → Nederrijn → Lek → Nieuwe Maas → Het Scheur → Nieuwe Waterweg. Since the Rhine contributes most of the water, the shorter term Rhine Delta is commonly used. However, this name is also used for the delta where the Alpine Rhine flows into Lake Constance, so it is clearer to call the larger one Rhine–Meuse delta, or even Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, as the Scheldt ends in the same delta. By some calculations, the delta covers 25,347 km2 (9,787 sq mi), making it the largest in Europe.
The Volkerak is a body of water in the Netherlands. It is part of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, and is situated between the island Goeree-Overflakkee to the north-west and the Dutch mainland to the south and east. The western part of the Volkerak is also called Krammer. Tributaries of the Volkerak are the Dintel and Steenbergse Vliet.
The Noord ("North") is a short tidal river in the western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland.
The Oude Maas is a distributary of the river Rhine, and a former distributary of the river Maas, in the Dutch province of South Holland. It begins at the city of Dordrecht where the Beneden Merwede river splits into the Noord and the Oude Maas. It ends when it joins the Nieuwe Maas to form Het Scheur.
The Oude Maasje is a former distributary of the river Maas, which runs parallel to the current canalised Bergse Maas.
The Volkerakdam or Volkerakwerken is the name given to a group of hydraulic engineering structures located between Goeree-Overflakkee and North Brabant in The Netherlands. The works are not a single dam, but are composed of three distinct structures: a dam between Goeree-Overflakkee and Hellegatsplein, a series of locks from Hellegatsplein to North Brabant, and a bridge from Hellegatsplein to Hoekse Waard. The works cross three separate bodies of water: the Haringvliet, Hollands Diep and Volkerak. The works together comprise the fifth project of the Delta Works.
51°42′00″N4°35′02″E / 51.70000°N 4.58389°E
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