Scheldt

Coordinates: 51°25′51″N 3°31′44″E / 51.43083°N 3.52889°E / 51.43083; 3.52889
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
(Redirected from
Escaut River
)
"Schelde" redirects here. For other uses, see Schelde (disambiguation).
Scheldt
The Scheldt in Antwerp
Course of the Scheldt
Scheldt is located in France
Scheldt
Scheldt is located in Belgium
Scheldt
Scheldt is located in Netherlands
Scheldt
Native name
Location
Countries
  • France
  • Belgium
  • Netherlands
Physical characteristics
Source 
 • locationFrance
 • elevation97 m (318 ft)
Mouth 
 • location
North Sea
 • coordinates
51°25′51″N 3°31′44″E / 51.43083°N 3.52889°E / 51.43083; 3.52889
Length360 km (220 mi)
Basin size21,863 km2 (8,441 sq mi)
Discharge 
 • average104 m3/s (3,700 cu ft/s)
Official nameSchorren van de Beneden Schelde
Designated4 March 1986
Reference no.327[1]
Official nameWesterschelde & Saeftinghe
Designated9 April 1995
Reference no.748[2]
Official nameVallées de la Scarpe et de l'Escaut
Designated2 February 2020
Reference no.2405[3]

The Scheldt (/ˈʃɛlt, ˈskɛlt/ SHELT, SKELT; French: Escaut [ɛsko]; Dutch: Schelde [ˈsxɛldə] ⓘ) is a 435-kilometre-long (270 mi)[4] river that flows through northern France, western Belgium, and the southwestern part of the Netherlands, with its mouth at the North Sea. Its name is derived from an adjective corresponding to Old English sċeald ("shallow"), Modern English shoal, Low German schol, West Frisian skol, and obsolete Swedish skäll ("thin").[citation needed]

Course

The headwaters of the Scheldt are in Gouy, in the Aisne department of northern France. It flows north through Cambrai and Valenciennes, and enters Belgium near Tournai. Ghent developed at the confluence of the Lys, one of its main tributaries, and the Scheldt, which then turns east. Near Antwerp, the largest city on its banks, the Scheldt flows west into the Netherlands toward the North Sea.[citation needed]

Originally there were two branches from that point: the

Westerschelde (Western Scheldt). In the 19th century, however, the Dutch built a dyke that cuts the river off from its eastern (northern) branch and connects Zuid-Beveland with the mainland (North Brabant). Today the river continues into the Westerschelde estuary only, passing Terneuzen to reach the North Sea between Breskens in Zeelandic Flanders and Vlissingen (Flushing) on Walcheren.[citation needed
]

The Scheldt is an important

Meuse, and Seine rivers, and with the industrial areas around Brussels, Liège, Lille, Dunkirk, and Mons.[citation needed
]

The Scheldt flows through the following departments of France, provinces of Belgium, provinces of the Netherlands, and towns:[citation needed]

History

The Scheldt at Antwerp, photochrom, ca. 1890-1900
"View of Antwerp with the frozen Scheldt" (1590) by Lucas van Valckenborch
U.S. President Harry S. Truman and Secretary of State James F. Byrnes wave at HMS Hambledon while on board the USS Augusta on the river Scheldt as they head to the Potsdam Conference on 15 July 1945
Aerial view of the Scheldt estuary, looking toward Antwerp from the northwest

The Scheldt estuary has always had considerable commercial and strategic importance. Called Scaldis in

Frankish Empire in the 9th century, the Scheldt eventually became the border between the Western and Eastern parts of the Empire, which later became France and the Holy Roman Empire.[citation needed
]

This status quo remained intact, at least on paper, until 1528, but by then, both the

fell back under Spanish control in 1585, the Dutch Republic took control of Zeelandic Flanders, a strip of land on the left bank, and closed the Scheldt for shipping. That shifted the trade to the ports of Amsterdam and Middelburg and seriously crippled Antwerp, an important and traumatic element in the history of relations between the Netherlands and what was to become Belgium.[citation needed
]

Access to the river was the subject of the brief

independence from the Netherlands in 1830, the treaty of the Scheldt determined that the river should remain accessible to ships heading for Belgian ports. Nevertheless, the Dutch government would demand a toll from passing vessels until 16 July 1863.[5]

The Question of the Scheldt, a study providing "a history of the international legal arrangements governing the Western Scheldt", was prepared for the use of British negotiators at the Treaty of Versailles in 1919.[6]

In the

Canadian First Army successfully cleared the area, allowing supply convoys direct access to the port of Antwerp by November 1944.[7]

Tributaries and sub-tributaries

The Scheldt in Antwerp at sunset

Navigation

Location of navigable river Schedt/Escaut
The navigable river Escaut/Scheldt from Cambrai to the North Sea (from European Waterways Map and Directory, 5th edition)

Canalisation from Cambrai down to Valenciennes was completed in 1788. Napoleon saw the benefits of linking Paris to Belgium and accelerated completion of the Canal de Saint-Quentin to the south. The locks were deepened and doubled, as coal became the essential commodity of the industrial revolution. Upgrading downstream from Bouchain was started in the 1960s in both France and Flanders, but the waterway is still not fully compliant with European standards. All the locks on the high-capacity section are being doubled by European Class Vb size locks, 185 by 12 m (607 by 39 ft), as part of the overall European Seine-Scheldt waterway project.[9] The Pont des Trous, a listed fortified bridge in Tournai that has already been substantially modified, will again be raised to provide the necessary dimensions, including an air draught of 7.10 m (23 ft 4 in).[citation needed]

The 13 km section between Cambrai (connection with Canal de Saint-Quentin) and Hordain (connection with Canal de la Sensée) is only navigable for small ships (péniche) and has 5 locks.[10]

In culture

Traditions says that Saint Amalberga of Temse crossed the river in Temse on the back of a big Sturgeon.[citation needed]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Schorren van de Beneden Schelde". Ramsar Sites Information Service. Retrieved 25 April 2018.
  2. ^ "Westerschelde & Saeftinghe". Ramsar Sites Information Service. Retrieved 25 April 2018.
  3. ^ "Vallées de la Scarpe et de l'Escaut". Ramsar Sites Information Service. Retrieved 3 February 2020.
  4. ^ "VNSC Communicatie : vraagbaak voor alles op, rond en in de Schelde" (in Dutch). Retrieved 2014-06-03.
  5. ^ "Avalon Project - Belgian-American Diplomacy - Convention for the Extinguishment of the Scheldt Dues: July 20, 1863". avalon.law.yale.edu. Retrieved 2023-05-18.
  6. ^ Prothero, G W (1920). Question of the Scheldt. Peace handbooks. London: H.M. Stationery Office. Retrieved 2014-06-03.
  7. ISBN 978-1771620307
    .
  8. ^
    Sandre. "Fiche cours d'eau - L'Escaut Canalisée (E---004-)"
    .
  9. ISBN 978-1-846230-14-1
    .
  10. ^ Fluviacarte, Escaut (à petit gabarit)

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Scheldt.
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