Nieuwe Maas

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Nieuwe Maas

The Nieuwe Maas (English: New Meuse) is a river branch of the Rhine-Meuse delta in the Netherlands

Netherlands

The Netherlands is a country that is part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It is a parliamentary democratic constitutional monarchy. The Netherlands is located in North-West Europe, and bordered by the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east....
. It runs from the confluence of the rivers Noord

Noord River

The Noord is a short tidal river in South Holland in the Netherlands.It starts at the city of Dordrecht where the Beneden Merwede river forks into the Oude Maas and the Noord....
and Lek

Lek River

The Lek is a river in the western Netherlands of some 60 km in length. It is the continuation of the Nederrijn after the Kromme Rijn branches off at the town of Wijk bij Duurstede....
, and flows west through Rotterdam

Rotterdam

Rotterdam ; city and municipality in the Netherlands province of South Holland, situated in the west of the Netherlands. The municipality is the List of cities in the Netherlands with over 100,000 people in the country, with a population of 584,046 on 1 January 2007 and comprises the southern part of the Randstad, the List of metropolitan are...
. It ends west of the city where it meets the Oude Maas

Oude Maas

River Oude Maas is a branch in the Rhine-Meuse River river delta in the Netherlands province of South Holland. It begins at the city of Dordrecht where the Beneden Merwede river splits into the Noord River and the Oude Maas....
(Old Meuse), near Vlaardingen

Vlaardingen

Vlaardingen is a town in South Holland in the Netherlands. It is located on the north bank of the Nieuwe Maas/Nieuwe Waterweg river at the confluence with the Oude Maas....
, to form Het Scheur

Het Scheur

Het Scheur is a branch of the Rhine-Meuse river delta in South Holland, the Netherlands, that flows west from the Confluence of the Oude Maas and Nieuwe Maas branches past the towns of Rozenburg and Maassluis....
. The total length is approximately 24 kilometers.

The Nieuwe Maas flows through some of the most densely populated and developed areas in the Netherlands.

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Encyclopedia

The Nieuwe Maas (English: New Meuse) is a river branch of the Rhine-Meuse delta in the Netherlands

Netherlands

Noord River

The Noord is a short tidal river in South Holland in the Netherlands.It starts at the city of Dordrecht where the Beneden Merwede river forks into the Oude Maas and the Noord....
and Lek

Lek River

Rotterdam

Oude Maas

Vlaardingen

Vlaardingen is a town in South Holland in the Netherlands. It is located on the north bank of the Nieuwe Maas/Nieuwe Waterweg river at the confluence with the Oude Maas....
, to form Het Scheur

Het Scheur

History

During the early Middle Ages

Middle Ages

File:Karl 1 mit papst gelasius gregor1 sacramentar v karl d kahlen.jpgThe Middle Ages of European history are a period in history which lasted for roughly a millennium, commonly dated from the fall of the Roman Empire in the 5th century to the beginning of the Early Modern Period in the 16th century, marked by the division of Western Christi...
the Nieuwe Maas was considered to be the continuation of the river Merwede

Merwede

The Merwede is the name of several interconnected stretches of river in The Netherlands, all part of the Rhine-Meuse-Scheldt delta. The Meuse river joins the Waal at Woudrichem to form the Boven Merwede ....
and was named accordingly. In the original situation, the Merwede was the continuation of the river Waal

Waal

River Waal is the main distributary branch of river Rhine flowing to the central Netherlands for about 80 km before joining the Afgedamde Maas river near Woudrichem to form the Boven Merwede river....
(itself being a distributary branch of the river Rhine

Rhine

File:Swiss Grand Canyon.jpgThe Rhine is one of the longest and most important rivers in Europe, at , with an average discharge of more than ....
), but after some major floods the river Meuse

Meuse

Meuse is a departments of France in northeast France, named after the Meuse River....
shifted its course towards the Merwede as well. From that moment on, several stretches of the original Merwede were named Meuse instead.

As a result, for many centuries the Nieuwe Maas and its sibling Oude Maas

Oude Maas

Rozenburg

Media:Nl-Rozenburg.ogg is a town and municipality in the western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland. The municipality covers an area of 6.50 km? ....
: the north branch was known as Het Scheur and the south branch as Nieuwe Maas or Brielse Maas (Brill Meuse) because it flowed close to Brielle

Brielle

Media:Nl-Brielle.ogg, also called Den Briel is a town and municipality in the western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland, on the north side of the island of Voorne, at the mouth of the New Maas....
. They met again to form an estuary

Estuary

An estuary is a semi-enclosed coastal body of water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea....
known as Maasmond ("Mouth of Meuse"). However, both Meuse and Rhine shifted their courses southwards again. As a result, the Nieuwe Maas is once again a primary distributary branch of the Rhine, while the Meuse is currently delivering only very small amounts of water towards its former mouth.

With the completion of the Nieuwe Waterweg

Nieuwe Waterweg

The Nieuwe Waterweg is a ship canal in the Netherlands from Scheur west of the town of Maassluis to the North Sea at Hook of Holland. It is the artificial mouth of the river Rhine....
, the lower Nieuwe Maas no longer reaches the sea as a primary outflow for the river Rhine. The Brielse Maas section was dammed off from Het Scheur

Het Scheur

Brielse meer

The Brielse Meer is a long, narrow lake between the Netherlands estuary islands of Voorne-Putten and Rozenburg in the province of Zuid-Holland....
), forcing all waters to flow through the artificial Nieuwe Waterweg.

Links across the Nieuwe Maas

From west to east:

Beneluxtunnel (tunnel; motor vehicles, cyclists and metro
Rotterdam Metro

The Rotterdam Metro is a rapid transit system operated in Rotterdam by Rotterdamse Elektrische Tram. The first line, called Noord - Zuidlijn opened in 1968 and ran from Rotterdam#Train to Zuidplein, crossing the river Nieuwe Maas in a tunnel....
)
Maastunnel
Maastunnel

The Maastunnel is a tunnel in Rotterdam, Netherlands, connecting the banks of the Nieuwe Maas. About 75,000 motor vehicles and a large number bicycle, mopeds and pedestrians use the tunnel daily, making the Maastunnel an important part of Rotterdam's road....
(tunnel; motor vehicles, cyclists, pedestrians)
Erasmusbrug
Erasmusbrug

The Erasmusbrug is a cable stayed bridge across the Nieuwe Maas river, linking the northern and southern halves of the city of Rotterdam, Netherlands....
(bridge; motor vehicles, cyclists, pedestrians, trams)
Maastaxi (ferry; pedestrians)
Metrotunnel (tunnel; metro)
Willemstunnel (tunnel; train)
Willemsbrug (bridge; motor vehicles, cyclists, pedestrians)
Van Brienenoordbrug
Van Brienenoordbrug

The Van Brienenoordbrug is an arch bridge for car traffic over the river Nieuwe Maas, which is a major distributary of the river Rhine. The bridge is located at the east side of Rotterdam, The Netherlands....
(bridge; motor vehicles, cyclists, pedestrians)