Rupel

The Rupel is a short, 12 km long tributary of the Scheldt which at the height of Rumst created by the confluence of Nete and Dijle . The Rupel flows across Rupelmondeon the border between Hingene and Schelle from the right into the river. He is navigable for ships up to 2,000 tons. The goods traffic in 1992 amounted to 8.8 million tonnes.

Until 1997 was the Rupel of his mouth to the lock Wintam access to the Brussels-Scheldt Maritime Canal . Meanwhile, the new lock Wintam opened which the canal connects directly with the Scheldt making it difficult for very sensitive Rupel tidal range is avoided. Only barges that the Nete , Mechelen or Leuven via the Channel Dijlewant to achieve, still follow the Rupel.

Just upstream Dyle is the Zennegat where the Senne in the Dyle flows and which also includes the lock located at the canal Leuven-Dyle, called the "Leuven momentum."The piece Dyle between Zennegat and the mouth of the Rupel called the Koest Aart popularly.

The name Rupel would go back rim-(flowing) and -pel (marsh, pond, both Celtic and Germanic) or other sources are a combination of rugged or rough with the Latinpalus, "Marsh" (Ru-peel). Compare with the Dutch town 'De Peel' [1] . The strong tides and / or the marshes inspiration for this choice of name. Now a freshwater tidal river with strong tidal currents, she was in the early Middle Ages and antiquity a wide shallow river with vast peat bogs rich on the left. She gave her name to the Rupel region, the area on the right bank, where since the Middle Ages is a comprehensive brick industry. It Rupelian is the geological deposit, which the industry took its clay and one on the right bank pseudo-cuesta to form 35 meters.