The Van Starkenborgh Canal () is a canal in Groningen that connects the Prinses Margriet Canal with the Eems Canal. The canal is suitable for CEMT-Class Va (barges up to 2,500t), and is part of the Lemmer–Delfzijl Waterway. It is getting upgraded to allow passage to barges with four layers of containers.
The improvement of the waterway between Lemmer and Groningen was above all a political challenge. Planning started in 1900, construction took place from 1922 to 1937. The original Van Starkenborgh Canal was dug between the Eems Canal and Noordhorn and named Van Starkenborgh Canal in 1938. At about the same time, a section of the Hoendiep west of this was upgraded to the same dimensions. In July 1949 this also received the name Van Starkenborgh Canal.
Trouble on the Hoendiep
From the mid-17th century the city of Groningen relied on the Hoendiep as its inland waterway to Frisia. This was a small but busy canal. From 1862 to 1870, it was improved. However, the maximum size of the barges on the canal remained only 120-140t.
In 1911, the national government appointed a commission to improve the connection from Groningen to Lemmer. In 1917, this issued a report based on making a canal suitable for barges of 67 by 8.2 by 2.3 m. This would increase the size of the barges on the canal to 600-700t. This plan still called for an improvement of the Hoendiep.
In 1919, the province started preparations to build two new locks to serve this improved Hoendiep. The first lock would replace the existing Gaarkeuken Lock, near the border with Frisia. The other new lock had to replace the Westerhaven Lock.
Construction of Gaarkeuken Lock started in 1922 and was finished in 1924. It was at first planned to be suitable for 700t barges. In the end, this became 1,000t. The reason that authorities went ahead at Gaarkeuken was that they could build the lock in a new side canal. This left enough space to later build a 2,000t lock in the main canal.
The Westerhaven Lock gave the city access to the Hoendiep. The province wanted to spend 950,000 guilders to improve it and make it suitable for 700t barges. However, in the early 1920s, the national government demanded that the design of the new canal would immediately take 1,000t barges into account. This caused that the cost of removing existing buildings and a railway in Groningen and Hoogkerk became so high that an improvement of the existing Hoendiep became unfeasible. The project to upgrade the Westerhaven Lock was then cancelled.
The failed canal to De Poffert
The connection between Damsterdiep and Boterdiep
On its eastern side, the city of Groningen faced problems that were very similar to the problems at the Hoendiep. In about 1880, it had made a canal to connect the old Damsterdiep in the east to the Boterdiep that went to the north. This was called the and was dug along the old fortification moats. See the map of the 1903 plan for city expansion.
By 1919, a new connection canal between the Damsterdiep and Boterdiep was under construction. It was called the Gorecht Canal, in Dutch also spelled as 'Gorechtkanaal' or 'Goorecht Kanaal'. On the 1903 map, it is shown as a part of a much longer canal that would make a direct connection between the Winschoterdiep and the Boterdiep, and that was labelled as 'Ontworpen Kanaal'.
The Omsnijdingskanaal to De Poffert The very high cost of upgrading the Westerhaven Lock and widening the Hoendiep near Hoogkerk, made that authorities looked for a plan that evaded these problems. The Omsnijdingskanaal plan was created based on the existence of the Gorecht Canal. The idea was to extend the Gorecht Canal and then 'cut around' () the north side of the city of Groningen and connect to the Hoendiep at De Poffert, just west of Hoogkerk.
The 1923 map shows this proposed canal turning back south after crossing the Groningen–Delfzijl railway. The big plus of this plan was that it did not require a new Westerhaven Lock and did not require a costly compulsory purchase and demolishment of buildings in Hoogkerk. It would basically mean a detour north of the city, but it would evade the choke points. The province and national government supported this plan. The new plan would cost about 3,750,000 guilders, of which 2,500,000 would be paid by the national government.
The local chamber of commerce opposed the plan. It said that it was useless as long as Frisia did not act to improve its part of the waterway. However, it also said that if the other authorities wanted to persist, it would be better not to use the Gorecht Canal, but to construct the new canal about 750 m further to the east. This would allow the construction of a new lock at a place between the Damsterdiep and the Eems Canal. See the 1923 map.
Construction of the Van Starkenborgh Canal
The current Van Starkenborgh Canal consists of two parts. The original Van Starkenborg Canal was named as such on 15 December 1937. The section of the Hoendiep from Noordhornerga to the Frisian border was renamed Van Starkenborg Canal on 26 July 1949.
The original Van Starkenborgh Canal
By early 1926, the plans for the omsnijdingskanaal had changed. The new canal would now go directly from the Eems Canal to the northern part of the Hoendiep near Noordhorn or more specifically: Noordhornerga. This would bypass most of the Hoendiep. The result would be a canal that followed a slightly bent line from Gaarkeuken to the Eems Canal just east of the city. The idea still included using the Gorecht Canal. The province relegated a decision about this to the national government.
In November 1927, the national government decided that the new canal should follow the route suggested by the Chamber of Commerce and connect to the Eems Canal somewhat further to the east. This design was for barges of 1,000t, or 80 by 9.2 by 2.4 m. The plan had to take expansion to 2,000t barges into account.
The decisions about who should pay for the improved canal might have been as complex as the technical aspects of the canal. In general, the national government had to pay for projects that were in the national interest, and local government had to pay for projects that were in the local interest. The new waterway was of national and local interest. In Groningen, this was complicated by the municipality of Groningen being so dominant in the province. In early 1929, the national government promised to bear two-thirds of the cost for the section between the Eems Canal and Noordhorn, and all of the costs for acquiring the terrains for this section. Groningen province and the municipality of Groningen city then had to agree about who would bear the rest.
The national government and the local authorities in Groningen agreed about constructing the original Van Starkenborgh Canal before there was an agreement with Friesland about improving the whole waterway between Lemmer and Groningen. In February 1929 the provincial assembly decided to give its approval for the construction between Noordhornerga and the Eems Canal. By 1930, the original Van Starkenborgh Canal was under construction. In early 1934 authorities started to use unemployed people to dig the canal by hand, the so-called . On 15 October 1936, the section between Noordhornerga and the vertical lift bridge near the Boterdiep was opened for shipping. The section between the Boterdiep and the Eems canal was opened for shipping on 1 September 1937. On 5 November 1938 the whole was christened as Van Starkenborg Canal by Queen Wilhemina. She revealed a Commemorative plaque and A.T. van Starkenborgh Stachouwer, Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies, made a speech by radio that was broadcast during the ceremony.
Construction west of Noordhorn
The original Van Starkenborgh Canal was useful for inland shipping between Groningen and Lemmer because it evaded the Hoendiep. However, the investment to construct a canal of these dimensions only made sense if the whole Gronigen-Lemmer waterway was improved. For Friesland, the improved Groningen-Lemmer waterway would have limited value. There were almost no significant Frisian places along its trajectory. What was even worse, was that the national government wanted to limit toll on the canal. The toll on the existing waterway to Groningen formed a significant part of the provincial budget.
In November 1929, engineers of the local and national governments issued a plan for the part of the Groningen-Zuiderzee waterway west of Noordhornerga. To compensate Friesland, this included an upgrade and improvement of the waterway from Harlingen via Leeuwarden to Fonejacht, the later van Harinxmakanaal. In July 1931, Groningen province agreed to the national government's proposal for the cost. The national government would bear all of the compulsory purchase cost and the extra cost for going to Stavoren instead of Lemmer. Of the construction cost, Groningen would have to pay one-third of the cost for the section between Noordhorn and the provincial border. For the section to Stavoren, Groningen would pay 4/15 and Friesland 1/15. For the Van Harinxma canal, Groningen would pay 1/15 and Friesland 4/15 of the construction cost. The rest of the construction cost, i.e. 2/3 was paid by the national government. Groningen province meanwhile also agreed with the municipality about a further division of the cost.
It took three more years before Friesland province finally agreed. Friesland required that construction of the later Van Harinxma Canal would be started and finished at the same time as the section to Stavoren. It also wanted to collect toll on the new canals. However, toll was not collected on canals in the center and south of the country and not on national waterways. The primary concern of Friesland was that if the canal to Stavoren was completed before the canal between Harlingen and Leeuwarden, trade would shift from Harlingen to other harbors and not come back. It was February 1934 before Friesland agreed in principle. The official approval by the province came in July 1934.
Meanwhile, Groningen went ahead with its part of the plan. In December 1932, the House of representatives received a proposal for a disappropriation law for the section between Noordhornerga and Stroobos on the Frisian border. By late 1934, the section between Noordhornerga and Gaarkeuken Lock was under construction. In 1935, 1,300 unemployed were used to dig, mainly in this section. On 16 November 1936 the section on both sides of the bridge at Eibersburen was opened for shipping. In July 1937, all work in Groningen province was complete.
As built
As built, the original canal had to be suitable voor 1,000t barges. These would be 80 by 9.2 by 2.4 m, with a height above the water of 4.75 m. At the canal level, the canal would have a depth of 3 m. The bottom would be 20 m wide and the canal would be 42 m wide at the water level. The section between Noordhornerga and Strobos was also suitable for 1,000t barges.
Gaarkeuken Lock was 190 m long and 12 m wide. It had gates that were 10 m wide and 3 m deep. At the junction with the Eems Canal, there was another lock, the Oostersluis. This was planned to get the same dimensions. The only difference would be a lower sill on the Eems Canal. However, when the Oostersluis was opened, it was said to be 188 m long with gates of 12 m. This seems a mistake, but is explained by the use of gates () that rolled into position, making the gate as wide as the lock chamber itself.
There were smaller locks at Dorkwerd and on the Damsterdiep. The lock on the Damsterdiep was a three-way lock.