What is a vaart?
A vaart is a man-made waterway in the Netherlands that is, or once was, navigable and that also helps drain the surrounding polders. In English the closest description is a drainage canal or navigation channel in a polder landscape. The Dutch word comes from ‘varen’, to sail. Many vaarten were once used to carry peat, vegetables, fruit or passengers; today most serve drainage and recreation.
Types
- Ringvaart (ring canal): a canal around a reclaimed polder. Water pumped out of the polder enters the ring canal and is carried away. A well-known example is the ring canal around the Haarlemmermeer polder.
- Trekvaart (towing canal): built or adapted in the seventeenth century for passenger transport. The ‘trekschuit’, a barge, was pulled by a horse walking along the towpath, which is why these canals are strikingly straight.
- Turfvaart (peat canal): dug in peat areas to drain the bog and to ship out the cut peat. Side branches are known locally as ‘wijk’ or ‘mond’.
- Opvaart: a connecting channel between a farm and the main waterway.
Application
In the landscape you recognise a vaart by its width and straight course, often with a road or dike alongside. Because freight traffic has largely disappeared, many houses along a vaart have their own small bridge or causeway to the road on the opposite bank. The word lives on in Dutch place and street names.
Tips and points of attention
- Water board first: in the Netherlands a vaart is almost always managed by the regional water authority (waterschap). Bridges, jetties, bank protection or building within the protection zone along the bank usually need its permission.
- Maintenance strip: a strip along the bank often has to stay clear for dredging and mowing. Do not place a shed or fixed fence there without consent.
- Ground conditions: groundwater in polders is high and the soil is often soft. Allow for settlement and get foundation advice.
- Ownership: check who maintains the bank protection and footbridges; it is not always the water board.
Related terms
- Polder
- Ditch
- Gracht
- Storage basin
- Pumping station
- Canal lock
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