Twentekanaal

The Twentekanaal is a canal running through the Dutch provinces of Gelderland and Overijssel, connecting the three largest cities of the Twente region, Almelo, Hengelo and Enschede to the national network of rivers and canals. Because the canal forks to reach Almelo, the canal is officially plural, which is Twentekanalen.

The Twentekanaal starts at the IJssel North of Zutphen at the village of Eefde and runs through Almen, Lochem, Goor, Delden and Hengelo to Enschede. West of Delden, a fork of the canal runs to Almelo.

Both canals (Zutphen - Enschede and the fork Delden - Almelo) are managed by Rijkswaterstaat (the Dutch government body responsible for waterways). The part of the canal Eefde - Delden is 33 kilometres long, the fork Delden - Almelo is 15 kilometres long and the parts of the canal Delden - Hengelo and Hengelo - Enschede are subsequently 9 and 5 kilometres long. The total length of the canal is 65 kilometres.

At this moment (between 2004 and 2007), The Twentekanaal is being widened and deepened from a class IV to a class Va waterway. This means that a big Rhine ship (max. 11.50 wide, a draught of 2.70 and a length of 110 metres) can use the canal.

A study related to the history of the canal speaks of "a success out of a failure": the economic development as a result of the construction of the canal has been a disappointment, but the canal has had a huge impact on water management.