The Juliana Canal between Berg aan de Maas and Born is closed to all shipping as of today. Rijkswaterstaat is working to make the Limburg Canal deeper and wider, so that larger ships will soon be able to pass through. It is a huge project that will drain the four-kilometre-long congested canal.

Ships have to detour for months via the Maas or through Belgium via the Albert Canal. The disruption to shipping is significant, as ships sailing via Belgium have to pass through the Zeeland-Kriekerak locks. These ships are in the Scheldt-Rhine Canal and are undergoing maintenance until the end of September, so skippers have to take into account waiting times of up to ten hours.

Koninklijke Binnenvaart Nederland expects serious damage to the captains. With the detour, water transport becomes much more expensive. The trade association fears that companies will prefer to choose land transport instead of water.

Chemelot, a large industrial area near Jilin, uses the Juliana Canal extensively to supply raw materials. Companies on the site expect to incur millions of euros in additional costs due to the closure.

However, it is necessary, say the Rijkswaterstaat and the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management. Previously, an attempt was made to carry out the work inside a blocked “construction pit”, so that the movement of freight would not be hindered too much.

But at the beginning of this year, the construction pit, which is 700 meters long and 40 meters wide, suddenly filled with water and was damaged. It was then decided that the Juliana Canal needed to be drained in order to safely remove the construction pit and deepen and widen the canal.

For this purpose, a dam will be built in the Berg aan de Maas canal. When it is ready, the Rijkswaterstaat will allow 1.9 billion litres of water to slowly drain through the lock in the Born. The fish in the closed section will first be caught and then released elsewhere.

Once the canal is dry, a nine-metre-wide road will be built at the bottom to supply and remove the material. There will also be a conveyor belt through which the excavated sand and gravel will be removed. According to Rijkswaterstaat, the advantage of this is that it will cause less inconvenience to local residents.

Due to the setback in the construction pit and the decision to drain the entire Juliana Canal, the costs of the work have risen sharply. The cost now stands at nearly €1 billion, almost €180 million more than planned.

Costs are also increasing because of the advance of the work. They were supposed to start in October, but there was a lot of criticism from companies. The work is now starting earlier, but that means materials and rigs are more expensive because of the short period in which they were needed.

Costs could rise even further. Earlier, Infrastructure Minister Madelener said: “Partly due to the short preparation time and the nature of the work, there are still many uncertainties that could lead to additional setbacks.”

When completed next spring, the Juliana Canal will be suitable for ships up to 190 metres long, more than 11 metres wide and with a draft of up to 3.5 metres.