Rijkswaterstaat started demolishing the temporary dam in the Julianakanaal on April 3, 2025. This will take approximately 4 weeks.
Commercial shipping does not have to wait until the entire dam is removed. It has been decided that from Friday, April 11, shipping can resume. By then, the dam will be sufficiently cleared to allow ships to pass. The dam is expected to be completely demolished in the week of May 5.
The Julianakanaal has been dry over a length of 4 km for the past 8 months. Between Berg aan de Maas and Sluis Born, the canal has been widened and deepened to accommodate larger ships in the future. These works were completed in the week of March 24. We have also refilled the canal with water.
Facilities for Skippers
Having water in the canal is not enough to resume navigation. In the coming days, we will be busy installing mooring facilities for skippers. Due to ongoing work, only one lock will be available at Sluis Born on April 11. A second lock will be available in early May.
For safety reasons, it has been decided that only commercial shipping, with navigation guidance and an adjusted sailing speed, will be allowed on the Julianakanaal for the first few weeks. Once the dam is fully removed, we will also welcome recreational shipping on the route between Born and Stein.
Pipelines for Chemelot
With the dam being demolished and shipping resuming, the special pipelines for the Chemelot industrial complex can also be dismantled. Before starting the work in August, we laid 4 siphon pipelines, each 80 cm in diameter. These pipes ensured that the water in the Julianakanaal remained in motion during the closure.
Thanks to these pipelines, which connected the canal with the Maas, a continuous circular water flow was maintained south of the temporary dam, benefiting water quality. This way, Chemelot remained supplied with sufficient fresh canal water.
About the Julianakanaal Expansion Project
The Julianakanaal is part of the Maasroute, an important shipping route to ports in Belgium, Germany, and the Netherlands. The Maasroute is being adapted for so-called two-barge push-tow (class Vb ships). These are ships 190 m long, 11.4 m wide, with a maximum draft of 3.5 m. For this, we have widened and deepened the Julianakanaal. This ensures that the Maasroute remains a major shipping route in the future.