51°56′31″N 4°11′29″E / 51.94194°N 4.19139°E
The Nieuwe Waterweg ("New Waterway") is a ship canal in the Netherlands from het Scheur (a branch of the Rhine-Meuse-Scheldt delta) west of the town of Maassluis to the North Sea at Hook of Holland: the Maasmond, where the Nieuwe Waterweg connects to the Maasgeul. It is the artificial mouth of the river Rhine.
The Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta is a river delta in the Netherlands formed by the confluence of the Rhine, the Meuse (Dutch: Maas) and the Scheldt rivers. In some cases, the Scheldt delta is considered a separate delta to the Rhine–Meuse delta. The result is a multitude of islands, branches and branch names, in which a waterway that appears to be one continuous stream may have numerous separate names for different sections, e.g. Rhine → Bijlands Kanaal → Pannerdens Kanaal → Nederrijn → Lek → Nieuwe Maas → Het Scheur → Nieuwe Waterweg. Since the Rhine contributes most of the water, the term "Rhine Delta" is commonly used, although this name is also used for the delta where the Alpine Rhine flows into Lake Constance. By some calculations, the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta covers 25,347 km (9,787 sq mi), making it the largest in Europe.
The Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta is economically extremely important, since the three rivers are major navigable waterways. The delta is the entrance from the North Sea to the German and Central European hinterland (and to a lesser extent France). Major ports in the delta are Rotterdam, Antwerp (Belgium), Vlissingen, Amsterdam (through the Amsterdam–Rhine Canal), and Ghent (through the Ghent–Terneuzen Canal). The land areas in the delta are protected from flooding by the Dutch Delta Works.
The Port of Rotterdam is the largest seaport in Europe, and the world's largest seaport outside of Asia, located in and near the city of Rotterdam, in the province of South Holland in the Netherlands. From 1962 until 2004, it was the world's busiest port by annual cargo tonnage. It was overtaken first in 2004 by the port of Singapore, and since then by Shanghai and other very large Chinese seaports. In 2020, Rotterdam was the world's tenth-largest container port in terms of twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU) handled. In 2017, Rotterdam was also the world's tenth-largest cargo port in terms of annual cargo tonnage.
Covering 105 square kilometres (41 sq mi), the port of Rotterdam now stretches over a distance of 40 kilometres (25 mi). It consists of the city centre's historic harbour area, including Delfshaven; the Maashaven/Rijnhaven/Feijenoord complex; the harbours around Nieuw-Mathenesse; Waalhaven; Vondelingenplaat; Eemhaven; Botlek; Europoort, situated along the Calandkanaal, Nieuwe Waterweg and Scheur (the latter two being continuations of the Nieuwe Maas); and the reclaimed Maasvlakte area, which projects into the North Sea. The Port of Rotterdam is located in the middle of the Rhine-Meuse-Scheldt delta. Rotterdam has five port concessions (ports) within its boundaries—operated by separate companies under the overall authority of Rotterdam.
The Nieuwe Maas (Dutch pronunciation: [ˌniu.ə ˈmaːs]; "New Meuse") is a distributary of the Rhine River, and a former distributary of the Maas River, in the Dutch province of South Holland. It runs from the confluence of the rivers Noord and Lek, and flows west through Rotterdam. It ends west of the city where it meets the Oude Maas ("Old Meuse"), near Vlaardingen, to form Scheur. After a few miles, the Scheur continues as the artificial Nieuwe Waterweg. The total length of the Nieuwe Maas (excluding the Scheur) is approximately 24 kilometres (15 mi).
The Scheur (Dutch pronunciation: [sxøːr] ; Dutch for "The Rip") is a branch of the Rhine-Meuse delta in South Holland, Netherlands, that flows west from the confluence of the Oude Maas and Nieuwe Maas branches past the towns of Rozenburg and Maassluis. It continues as the Nieuwe Waterweg (New Waterway) to the North Sea.
Originally, the Scheur was the northern branch of the river around Rozenburg island and curved south a few kilometres past Maassluis to join the Nieuwe Maas again in the Maasmond ("Mouth of Meuse") estuary near Den Briel. When the Nieuwe Waterweg was completed in 1872, the Scheur was dammed off and connected to the east end of the Nieuwe Waterweg to form the new channelized main mouth of the Rhine-Meuse delta.
The Hollandse or Hollandsche IJssel (pronounced [ˌɦɔlɑntsə ˈʔɛisəl]; "Holland IJssel", as opposed to the 'regular' or Gelderland IJssel) is a branch of the Rhine delta that flows westward from Nieuwegein on river Lek through IJsselstein, Gouda and Capelle aan den IJssel to Krimpen aan den IJssel, where it ends in the Nieuwe Maas. Another branch called Enge IJssel ("Narrow IJssel") flows southwest from Nieuwegein. The name IJssel is thought to derive from the Germanic i sala, meaning "dark water". Originally, the Hollandse IJssel forked off from river Lek at Nieuwegein, but the connection was cut off with the Hollandse IJssel nowadays only draining the surrounding pastures.
If the North Sea floods, the Hollandse IJssel allows water through the Rotterdam Waterway to flood low-lying land east of Rotterdam. The Delta Works included a steel barrier that can be lowered within minutes to block the waterway. The sea protection constructions were built at the mouth of the Hollandse IJssel in 1957.
Hook of Holland (Dutch: Hoek van Holland, pronounced [ˈɦuk fɑn ˈɦɔlɑnt] ) is a coastal village in the southwestern corner of Holland, hence the name; hoek means "corner" and was in use before the word kaap – "cape". The English translation using Hook is a false friend of the Dutch Hoek, but has become commonplace in the Netherlands (in official government records in English, the name tends not to get translated and Hoek van Holland is used). It is located at the mouth of the New Waterway shipping canal into the North Sea. The village is administered as a district of the municipality of Rotterdam. Its district covers an area of 18.53 km, of which 14.19 km is land. On 1 January 2023 it had an estimated population of 10,560.
Settlements near "the Hook" (de Hoek) include the small towns Monster, Naaldwijk and 's-Gravenzande and the city Delft to the northeast, and the town Maassluis to the southeast. On the other side of the river is the harbor Europort and the Maasvlakte. The wide sandy beach, one section of which is designated for use by naturists, runs for approximately 18 kilometres to Scheveningen and for most of this distance is backed by extensive sand dunes through which there are foot and cycle paths. On the north side of the New Waterway, to the west of the village, is a pier, part of which is accessible to pedestrians and cyclists.
Rozenburg (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈroːzə(m)bʏr(ə)x] ) is a town and former municipality in the western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland. The municipality had a population of 13,173 in 2004, and covers an area of 6.50 km (of which 1.99 km water). It was the second-smallest municipality in the Netherlands in area (behind Bennebroek). On 10 July 2008, the local council decided to disband the municipality and to form a submunicipality of Rotterdam. This was ratified on 27 October 2009 by the Eerste Kamer (the Dutch Senate), and came into effect on 18 March 2010.
The town is located on the former island by the same name: Rozenburg Island. Its current form was created out of three separate parts: Rozenburg proper (a former sand bar between Het Scheur and Brielse Maas – part of the Nieuwe Maas river – both being branches of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta), the sand bar Welplaat, and the southernmost part of the Hook of Holland (which was cut off from mainland Holland by the construction of the Nieuwe Waterweg ship canal in 1870 and subsequently was connected to Rozenburg when the remainder of Het Scheur was dammed off). The island is now connected to Voorne-Putten by a sea barrier and a dam.