Roosendaal canal route

Along the Vliet and beyond: discover the water-rich history of West Brabant

Water has always been part of this region. From small streams and larger canals for lively trade to locks for fortified towns. A bike ride through this landscape takes you into the history of water in West Brabant. Get on your bike and discover the history.

From the south and west, various streams converge in Roosendaal, where the water from the Kade is called the Roosendaalse Vliet . If you continue your way further north, it is called the Steenbergse Vliet, after which the water ends via the locks of Benedensas in the Volkerak. The Vliet serves to drain rainwater and also has an important function as a waterway. When the watercourse was made navigable in 1451, it led to an enormous boom in Roosendaal. Until the eighteenth century, the Vliet was a river and in various phases the straight canal was created, as we know the water today. Until the seventies of the twentieth century, the Vliet played an important role in the supply and discharge of raw materials and products, for example in peat extraction and later in the transport of sugar beets. In the meantime, that function has largely disappeared and the water increasingly has a recreational function.

You leave Roosendaal via the Oostelijke and Westelijke Havendijk and continue your way towards the Gastelsveer. The name originates from the fact that before 1861 people had to cross the water here by ferry. After a bailey bridge was here for many years after the Second World War, an emergency measure, a modern bridge was built in 1983.

If you cycle a little further, you will reach the Mark-Vliet Canal . The plans for this canal date back to 1911. Heavy resistance, the Second World War and subsequent reconstruction ensured that it could not be completed until 1983. The Mark-Vliet Canal connects Roosendaal with Breda and ensures that Roosendaal is accessible for ships up to 1,350 tons.

In 1822 it was decided to seal off the Vliet at the Volkerak. For this purpose, locks and sluices had to be built. The first lock at Bovensas was completed in 1824 and is now filled in. The new lock from 1914 is permanently open, because since 1987 there has been no more tidal movement due to the closing off of the Volkerak as a result of the Delta Works. Incidentally, the name of this lock, Blauwe Sluis, is not due to the colour of the water. It is the stones that turned dark blue when they got wet that gave the lock its name.

The historic lock complex Benedensas also came into being after the decision to seal the Vliet in 1822. It dates partly from 1824 and partly from 1884. From the lock gates you have a beautiful view of the Krammer, Volkerak and the Dintelse Gorzen. Directly behind the dike you can even find a German bunker that was part of the Atlantic Wall, a 5,000 kilometre long defence line during the Second World War.

Fort Henricus, located just above Steenbergen, dates back to 1626 when it protected the fortified city. The fort was part of the West-Brabant Waterline and the Southern Waterline. From the lookout tower you have a fantastic view of the star-shaped fort and the vast polders of West-Brabant.

Near the highway lies the aqueduct called Steenbergen aan Zee that was built to keep the port of Steenbergen accessible, since Steenbergen used to be an important fortified town. On the Kaaistraat we find the former town hall from 1938 that was designed by the famous architect Jacques Hurks. A little further on, the Catholic Sint Gummaruskerk (designed by Joseph Cuijpers, 1901) and the Dutch Reformed Church stand out. These churches are so-called water board churches; churches that were built between 1824 and 1875 under the supervision of engineers from Rijkswaterstaat.

Short circuit route - 31 km

For the shortened route, from junction 41 follow the junctions: 42 - 43 - 75 - 65 - 69 - 03