North Sea Canal (The Netherlands)

The North Sea Canal (Dutch: Noordzeekanaal) is a Dutch ship canal from Amsterdam to the North Sea at IJmuiden, constructed between 1865 and 1876 to enable seafaring vessels to reach the port of Amsterdam. This man-made channel terminates at Amsterdam in the closed-off IJ Bay, which in turn connects to the Amsterdam-Rhine Canal.

Sluizen van IJmuiden - Verbinding tussen het Noordzeekanaal en de Noordzee (Nederland) — Locks of IJmuiden – Connection between the North Sea Canal and the North Sea (The Netherlands)

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Canal del Mar del Norte (Países Bajos)

Port of Amsterdam seen from the North Sea Canal (Netherlands) — Port of Amsterdam seen from the North Sea Canal (The Netherlands)

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To improve the connection between the harbour of Amsterdam and the North Sea, the North Holland Canal was built in 1824. But this long and narrow canal was quickly inadequate to handle the growing boat traffic. A few decades later it was decided to dig a new canal at the narrowest point in Holland and thereby providing the shortest route to the sea.
The North Sea Canal was built by digging a channel through the old IJ Bay and lining it with dikes, after which the remaining portions of the IJ Bay were reclaimed and turned into polders. From this bay to the sea, a new canal was dug through the dunes at Velsen. To accommodate drainage of and shipping on the tributaries of the IJ, such as the Spaarne, the Zaan, and the Nauerna Canal, nine auxiliary canals needed to be dug as well (Side Canals “A” to “I”).

On 1 November 1876, the North Sea Canal was officially opened by King William III of the Netherlands. Over the years the canal has been widened and deepened several times. Vessels with a draft of more than 14 metres should use the IJgeul. To protect access to the channel jetties were built in the sea.
In 1957 the Delft Hydraulics Laboratory began research for the best solution. The result was two jetties with 500 m difference in length between the southern and the northern one. The length of the north pier should be 1500 m to 2500 m and the south jetty of about 3000 m. This is to prevent the silting of the entrance channel and to ensure that vessels entering suffer less from the prevailing south-west and north-south flow along the coast.

Noordzeekanaal (Nederland)

IJmuiden vu du Canal de la Mer du Nord (Pays-Bas) — IJmuiden seen from the North Sea Canal (The Netherlands)

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북해 운하 (네덜란드)

Zijkanaal A - Connects the Harbour of Beverwijk to the North Sea Canal (The Netherlands) — Zijkanaal A – Connects the Harbour of Beverwijk to the North Sea Canal (The Netherlands)

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The North Sea Canal and the IJ have 10 side canals (in Dutch: Zijkanaal), which connect to rivers and other canals which used to flow into the former IJ Bay before its reclamation:

Zijkanaal A – connects the harbour of Beverwijk to the North Sea Canal, also an inundation canal of the Stelling van Amsterdam.
Zijkanaal B – connected Spaarndam to the North Sea Canal, but was cut off from it by the construction of the A9 motorway in the 1960s. It is now used for canoeing and mooring of houseboats.
Zijkanaal C – connects the Spaarne river at Spaarndam to the North Sea Canal at Buitenhuizen, and also functions as the main drainage canal of the Rijnland water board. The A9 motorway has an operable bridge over this side canal.
Zijkanaal D – connects the Nauerna Canal to the North Sea Canal.
Zijkanaal E – a very short canal connecting the south end of Westzaan to the North Sea Canal.
Zijkanaal F – connected Halfweg to the North Sea Canal, but is now mostly backfilled. A small portion remains and is used as a drainage canal.
Zijkanaal G – connects Zaandam and the Zaan River to the North Sea Canal.
Zijkanaal H – connects the Barndegat to the North Sea Canal.
Zijkanaal I – connects the East Zaan Overtoom to the IJ Bay.
Zijkanaal K – connects the harbour of Nieuwendam to the IJ Bay.