Albert canal
The canal is a connection between Liège, Limburg, and Antwerp.
The Albert Canal is a canal in Belgium that connects Liège to Antwerp via cities such as Genk, Hasselt, Geel, and Herentals, and the Meuse with the Scheldt. In Flanders, De Vlaamse Waterweg nv manages the canal, the Walloon part of the canal by Port autonome de Liège. The canal is 129 km long, running from Monsin to the Antwerp harbor at Merksem. There are six locks in the canal to overcome the height difference of 56 meters.
The canal takes its name from King Albert I and runs through three provinces, namely Liège, Limburg, and Antwerp.
In 1920, it was decided to build several canals, including the Albert Canal, which was intended to connect Antwerp and Liege. The "Coal Export Canal" (Eversel-Genk-Eisden) was a connection between the Coal Export Canal (near Genk) and the Maas (near Lieze) and the Maas had to be canalized from Lieze to Liege.
On June 17, 1921, Jules Van Caenegem defended a alternative connection in the Chamber, which didn't run along the Kempense coal mines, but offered other benefits such as being shorter, having fewer locks, being fed without pumps, and staying safely outside the concession zones. Nevertheless, work began on the Coal Export Canal in 1923, resulting in the "Kanaalke" near Zolliken (Zolder). The work was soon stopped. The Bouckaert Commission had to compare all the plans.
The Bouckaert Commission completed its advice in 1926. Key aspects of Van Caenegem's plans were preserved, but the costs were lower due to the reuse of existing canals, the Luik-Maastricht Canal, the Canal to Hasselt, the Kempische Canal, and the avoidance of the Haspengouws Plateau. New canal sections were the Coronmeuse-Herstal, Ternaaien-Hasselt, and Kwaadmechelen-Grobbendonk.
The German construction company Hochtief was responsible for the construction between 1930 and 1934, but it was Belgian companies that completed the canal works in 1939. The canal was built for the largest barges of that time, with a capacity of 2,000 tons and a canal width of 50 m.
King Leopold III and Queen Elisabeth opened the canal on July 30, 1939 during the International Water Season in Liege. The statue of the deceased Albert I was unveiled at the entrance of the canal at Monsin.
Because of the outbreak of World War II, the canal became a defensive line, so many bridges were blown up. As a result, the canal could only be put into use after the war, after all the bridges were restored in 1946.
The canal was a success. Due to the post-war period of reconstruction, the canal soon became too small. In 1968, it was decided to modernize the canal. The width of the canal would be increased to 100 meters. However, the existing bridges were not adapted accordingly. These bridges often still stood on old canal dikes in the canal.
In 1994, the push lock in Wijnegem was inaugurated as the last. With the modernization in the 1970s, the Albert Canal was also extended near the Cannerberg at Kanne, where the tunnel system of the Keel Mine was approached and a part of the Mathus Mine was excavated for the widening.
Around 1990, sea vessels increasingly transported goods in containers. To transport these containers further inland, the canal had to be widened again. The decision on the widening was taken by the Flemish government on April 23, 2005. They also created the Albert Canal Economic Network to manage all the infrastructure works and developments around the Albert Canal.
Van Monsin tot Ternaaien loopt het Albertkanaal parallel aan de Maas. Hier loopt het kanaal over het oude kanaal van Maastricht naar Luik.
Van Monsin loopt het door de industrie van Monsin, met twee insteekhavens. Daar vlakbij ligt ook Sluis Monsin die de aansluiting met de Maas benedenstrooms de stuw van Monsin vormt. Hier op de Maas komen voornamelijk tankers laden en lossen.
Characteristics
The Albert Canal is fed by the Meuse at Monsin. The section of the canal from Monsin to the Genk lock is in principle maintained at the same water level as the Meuse by the Monsin dam. However, it is possible to drain water from the Klein Ternaaien lock if the water level between Monsin and Genk is too high.