Leopoldsvaart and Schipdonk Canal

Parallel to the Leopoldsvaart runs the Schipdonk Canal. Commonly referred to as the Blinker and the Stinger. The Leopoldsvaart (1846-1847) is a drainage canal between Zelzate and the sea, intended to ensure better drainage of the polder area in the north of West and East Flanders. Proper drainage had come under pressure after the separation of Belgium and the Netherlands (1830-1839). The Schipdonk Canal relieves the Leie of the foul water caused by the rotting of flax and later industrial pollution. From Maldegem to the North Sea, the canals run side by side. They drain "clean" polder water and "polluted" industrial water, hence their popular nicknames. The banks with their majestic rows of trees have now become a landscape-valuable monument.
On the right, across from the canals, something entirely different: the back port of Zeebrugge, primarily with non-polluting transshipment companies. What stands out are the three ton-shaped storage facilities for natural gas. Here, surplus natural gas is stored in the summer to supplement the normal, respective supply in winter, known as the "peak shaving" installation. To hide it from view, the Knokke artist Gilbert de Cock was commissioned. He painted them in his characteristic style of lines, circles, and triangles.

Ontdek de Zwinregio