The Motte Bridge, a lot of noise and little effect

You hardly notice that there is a bridge over the Motte here. However, this narrow river was deemed strategically important when German troops invaded our country in May 1940 and advanced from Diest to Aarschot. The Belgian army blew up the bridge, but the explosive charge was calculated as if it were a crossing over the Mississippi. The entire area lay in ruins. The damage was enormous. The German army neatly walked around it elsewhere.

That this small river could overflow maliciously, the Hageland experienced during the floods in 1998. September 13, 1998, was an exceptionally wet day. The water poured from the sky all night long. And it seemed there was no end in sight. The water in the rivers rose and kept rising. But it was too late to do anything. Unless sandbags were delivered to save what could be saved. In Rillaar, there was 126 mm of rainfall in a 24-hour period. The damage was enormous, as was only revealed when the water began to recede. A flaw in the drainage concept and a total lack of maintenance were evident from the subsequent investigation. The silt was insufficiently cleared and the watercourses were poorly maintained. Aquafin was designated as responsible. However, it should be said that nature was actually the main culprit. The amount of rain that fell that day occurs only once every 200 years.

As stated on the commemorative plaque at the bridge, fortunately, the Belgian army was there to assist the residents.

Jan Rymenams