Overflow route

Spillways are lower areas in a river's levee system. They are intended to provide a way out for the rising water if the pressure on the dikes becomes too great. There were 2 overflows of the Maas between Katwijk and Cuijk and between Gassel and Linden. Particularly in autumn and winter, it used to be difficult to turn the Maas around and keep it within the dikes. When there was a lot of precipitation, the overflows sometimes opened twice a years in operation. The low grounds between Grave and Cuijk (the Beerse Gat) were then completely submerged. This last happened in 1942. From then on, the water level of the Meuse could be better controlled through canalisation and the installation of sluices. Especially in the eastern part of the route you can see how decisive the floods of the Meuse were for the landscape and the people who lived there. you cycle through a large-scale landscape, with buildings and roads on the higher parts. Characteristic are the old stately farms on mounds. The soil that has remained dry since 1942 is now partly excavated and makes way for..... water, such as the Kraaijenbergse Plassen near Linden.