page_title: Twentekanaal
section_title: Current function
hierarchical_section_title: Twentekanaal / Current function
caption_attribution_description: Sluis Twentekanaal (hoog), eigen foto
context_page_description: 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 are managed by Rijkswaterstaat. 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.
context_section_description: Nowadays the canal is used for the transport of sand, gravel, salt and cattle food. In 1996 432,277 ton was loaded and unloaded in Enschede and in 2,322,270 ton in Hengelo. Furthermore, the canal has a recreational function for both sailing and fishing, drainage and the drinking watersupply of Enschede. The drinking water is produced by pumping the water out of the canal at Lonnekerbrug. 
  For the draining purposes of all the streams connected to the canal, the Pumping station in Delden and Eefde are capable of pumping the water out of the canal. The canal is capable of handling 190,000 litres of water per second.
  On the part of the canal from Hengelo to Enschede much training of professional rowers takes place. As a result of a few serious accidents between Cargo ships and skiffs a learning and exchange project was started to generate mutual respect and understanding between these two groups. 
  For the professional shipping, all locks have been equipped with warning signs to remind them of the recreational shipping, while the rowers were invited to take a look at the bridge of a cargo ship and experience the controls of these ships.
  There are plans to connect the channel to the Mittelland Canal to shorten the connection from the Port of Rotterdam towards northern Germany.
caption: The Canal Lock at Eefde
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