Dortmund–Ems Canal

The Dortmund–Ems Canal is a 269-kilometre long canal in Germany between the inland port of the city of Dortmund and the sea port of Emden. The artificial southern part of the canal ends after 215 kilometres at Herbrum lock near Meppen. The route then takes the river Ems for 45 kilometres to Oldersum lock. From there, the canal continues along a second artificial segment of 98 kilometres . This latter section was built because inland ships at the time of the construction of the canal were not built for the open sea, which they would have faced at the Dollart and the entry to the sea port of Emden. It is connected to the Ems-Jade Canal from Emden to Wilhelmshaven.
The canal was opened in 1899  to reduce demand on the railway network, which could not cope with the transport of products from the Ruhr area. Also, the canal was supposed to make coal from the Ruhr area more competitive compared to imported English coal. Furthermore, the steel industry in the eastern Ruhr area needed to import ore from abroad.

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