Dead Linge

The Dead Linge, also written as Doode Linge, is the original beginning of the natural river Linge, which originated in Tiel from the Waal. When the drainage from Doornenburg was connected to the river at Zoelen, this part remained as a dead branch. Its length is 3.2 kilometers, measured from the canal around the old city center of Tiel.

The Dead Linge is fed from the moat of old Tiel, at the junction of the streets Voor de Kijkuit and Konijnenwal. A floating pump automatically pumps water from the moat based on the measured water level. The water flowing through this branch to the Linge sometimes goes underground, but further through narrow straight ditches through the city. It passes a manually operated weir at Konijnenwal and another at the Slaughterhouse, near J. D. van Leeuwenstraat. Near the station, the Dead Linge crosses the railway to Elst. To the north of this, the water flows through pond-like water bodies. It then flows under the A15 and the parallel Betuweroute, passes an automated weir, and then leaves the built-up area of Tiel. North of this passage, the little river flows along orchards and some houses. A bit further on, at Zoelen, from the northeast, the Lingewetering from Doornenburg flows into the transition from the Dead Linge to the original Linge.

In the past, the Linge was a natural branch of the Waal, which flowed into the Merwede at Gorinchem. In 1304, this river was dammed in Tiel due to flooding, particularly in the city center of Gorinchem, and high water inflow from the Waal. Later, a drainage (a kind of canal) was dug between Doornenburg and Zoelen, and water could be controlled from the Pannerdensch Canal to feed the rest of the Linge from there. Due to the damming in Tiel, this part of the river no longer supplied water; it became a so-called "dead branch." Thus, the designation Dead Linge was created. Nowadays, the little river receives water from the moats of Tiel, and due to a number of small weirs, the flow is minimal. In winter, this is 3.34 m³ per hour; in summer, it can slightly increase to counter oxygen deficiency and algal growth in the watercourse.

routeburo