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.
The drainage of the canal to the North Sea is done through the Spui Locks at IJmuiden, augmented by the largest pumping station in Europe. This system is vital to the groundwater management of the western Netherlands.
Read more about North Sea Canal: History, Side Canals, Approach, Locks, Crossings
Famous quotes containing the words north, sea and/or canal:
“If I could put my hand on the north star, would it be as beautiful? The sea is lovely, but when we bathe in it the beauty forsakes all the near water. For the imagination and senses cannot be gratified at the same time.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“So all were lost, which in the ship were found,
They in the sea being burnt, they in the burnt ship drown’d.”
—John Donne (1572–1631)
“My impression about the Panama Canal is that the great revolution it is going to introduce in the trade of the world is in the trade between the east and the west coast of the United States.”
—William Howard Taft (1857–1930)