Oude Maasje - Misplaced Pages

This article does not cite any sources. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.
Find sources: "Oude Maasje" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (June 2019) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

River in North Brabant, The Netherlands

Oude Maasje
Keizersveer bridge across the Bergse Maas near Geertruidenberg; to the right, the mouth of the Oude Maasje

Location
Country	The Netherlands
Region	North Brabant
Physical characteristics

Source
• location	Maas, near Heusden

Mouth
• location	Bergse Maas, near Geertruidenberg
Basin features
River system	Maas

The Oude Maasje ("Little Old Meuse") is a former distributary of the river Maas (or Meuse), which runs parallel to the current canalised Bergse Maas.

History

The hydrological distribution of the Maas changed during the later Middle Ages, when a major flood forced it to shift its main course towards the Merwede river. However, during another series of severe floods the Maas found an additional path towards the sea near Geertruidenberg, resulting in the creation of the Biesbosch wetlands and Hollands Diep estuaries. Thereafter, the Maas split near Heusden into two main distributaries, one flowing north to join the Merwede, and one flowing directly to the sea. This latter branch is the current Oude Maasje. The branch eventually silted up, and in 1904 a new parallel channel was dug in the drainage basin, the Bergse Maas. This channel then took over the functions of the silted-up branch, which has since been known as the Oude Maasje. At the same time, the branch leading to the Merwede was dammed at Heusden, (and has since been known as the Afgedamde Maas) so that the vast majority of water from the Maas now enters the old Hollands Diep estuary, rather than mixing with the Rhine distributaries. Like many old river beds in the Netherlands, the Oude Maasje now primarily acts to drain the surrounding fields, and does not receive water from the Maas river. However, it drains into the Bergse Maas near Geertruidenberg, therefore retaining a connection with the Maas.

v t e Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta
Rhine Rijn Rhin	Current distributaries Waal Nederrijn IJssel Lek Merwede Boven Merwede Nieuwe Merwede Beneden Merwede Oude Maas Dordtsche Kil Noord Nieuwe Maas Scheur Nieuwe Waterweg Former distributaries Kromme Rijn Leidse Rijn Oude Rijn Hollandse IJssel Vecht Waaltje Brielse Maas Spui Current estuaries Nieuwe Waterweg IJsselmeer Former estuaries Hollands Diep Haringvliet Volkerak Krammer Grevelingen Keeten-Mastgat Oosterschelde Associated canals Bijlands Kanaal Pannerdens Kanaal Amsterdam–Rhine Canal Vaartse Rijn Nieuwe Merwede Nieuwe Waterweg Scheldt–Rhine Canal Maas–Waal Canal
Meuse Maas	Current distributaries Bergse Maas Amer Former distributaries Oude Maasje Afgedamde Maas Merwede Boven Merwede Beneden Merwede Oude Maas Dordtsche Kil Noord Nieuwe Maas Scheur Nieuwe Waterweg Current estuaries Former estuaries Hollands Diep Haringvliet Volkerak Krammer Grevelingen Keeten-Mastgat Oosterschelde Associated canals Heusden Canal Bergse Maas Maas–Waal Canal
Scheldt Schelde Escaut	Current distributaries Western Scheldt Former distributaries Oosterschelde Eendracht Current estuaries Western Scheldt Former estuaries Oosterschelde Krammer Grevelingen Associated canals Scheldt–Rhine Canal Canal through Zuid-Beveland Canal through Walcheren
Other rivers (directly draining into the delta)	Linge Mark Donge Rotte Oude IJssel
Islands and Peninsulas	Rozenburg IJsselmonde Het Eiland van Dordt Voorne and Putten Hoeksche Waard Tiengemeten Goeree-Overflakkee Schouwen-Duiveland Tholen Sint Philipsland Walcheren Noord-Beveland Zuid-Beveland
Towns	Rotterdam Antwerp Dordrecht Bergen-op-Zoom Schiedam Vlissingen Vlaardingen Middelburg Spijkenisse
Other topics	Delta Works Verdronken Land van Reimerswaal Verdronken Land van Saeftinghe St. Elizabeth's flood (1421) St. Felix's Flood All Saints' Flood (1570)

51°42′26″N 4°56′15″E / 51.7072°N 4.9375°E / 51.7072; 4.9375

Categories: