Waal
For the village, see Waal (South Holland).The
Waal is the main
distributary branch of
river Rhine flowing to the central
Netherlands for about 80
kilometres before joining river
Meuse near
Woudrichem to form river
Boven Merwede. It is a major river which serves as the main waterway connecting the
Rotterdam harbor and
Germany.
Nijmegen,
Tiel,
Zaltbommel and
Gorinchem are towns of importance with direct access to the river. The river carries two-thirds of the total flow of the Rhine.
The name Waal, in
Roman times called Vacalis, Vahalis or Valis, later Vahal, is of
Germanic origin and is named after the many
meanders in the river (Old Germanic: wôh = crooked). However, the current river shows little signs of these great bends, since the river has been the subject of numerous normalisation projects. These are carried out in the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries to improve the river as an economical important shipping route. Some of the cut-off bends are still visible near the main river and are sometimes reconnected to it in times of high water levels.
Railroad bridges (with nearest train station on the left and right bank):
*between
Nijmegen and
Nijmegen Lent*between
Zaltbommel and
Geldermalsen
