Port of RotterdamThe Port of Rotterdam is the largest seaport in Europe, and the world's largest seaport outside of East Asia, located in and near the city of Rotterdam, in the province of South Holland in the Netherlands. From 1962 until 2004, it was the world's busiest port by annual cargo tonnage. It was overtaken first in 2004 by the port of Singapore, and since then by Shanghai and other very large Chinese seaports. In 2020, Rotterdam was the world's tenth-largest container port in terms of twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU) handled.
Hook of HollandHook of Holland (Hoek van Holland, ˈɦuk fɑn ˈɦɔlɑnt) is a town in the southwestern corner of Holland, hence the name; hoek means "corner" and was the word in use before the word kaap – "cape", from Portuguese cabo – became Dutch. The English translation using Hook is a false cognate of the Dutch Hoek, but has become commonplace (in official government records in English, the name tends not to get translated and Hoek van Holland is used). It is located at the mouth of the New Waterway shipping canal into the North Sea.
MaeslantkeringThe Maeslantkering ("Maeslant barrier" in Dutch) is a storm surge barrier on the Nieuwe Waterweg, in South Holland, Netherlands. It was constructed from 1991 to 1997. As part of the Delta Works the barrier responds to water level predictions calculated by a centralized computer system called BOS. It automatically closes when Rotterdam (especially the Port of Rotterdam) is threatened by floods. Maeslantkering has two 210-metre long barrier gates, with two 237-metre long steel trusses holding them.
MaasvlakteThe Maasvlakte (ˈmaːsflɑktə) is a massive man-made westward extension of the Europoort port and industrial facility within the Port of Rotterdam. Situated in the municipality of Rotterdam in the Netherlands, the Maasvlakte is built on land reclaimed from the North Sea. Before the commencement of the Maasvlakte project, the region was a sandbank which was hazardous to shipping. The Maasvlakte was created in the 1960s by reclaiming land from the North Sea through dykes and sand suppletion.
Nieuwe WaterwegThe Nieuwe Waterweg ("New Waterway") is a ship canal in the Netherlands from het Scheur (a branch of the Rhine-Meuse-Scheldt delta) west of the town of Maassluis to the North Sea at Hook of Holland: the Maasmond, where the Nieuwe Waterweg connects to the Maasgeul. It is the artificial mouth of the river Rhine. The Nieuwe Waterweg, which opened in 1872 and has a length of approximately , was constructed to keep the city and port of Rotterdam accessible to seafaring vessels as the natural Meuse-Rhine branches silted up.
BetuwerouteThe Betuweroute is a double track freight railway between Rotterdam and Germany. Betuweroute is the official name, after the Betuwe area through which the route passes. The line is popularly called Betuwelijn, after an older local rail line in the same region. The line extends into Germany as the Oberhausen–Arnhem railway, and it is part of Project () 5 of the Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T). In 1985 the Van Bonde Commission began to investigate the future of west–east transport.
RotterdamRotterdam (ˈrɒtərdæm , UKalsoˌrɒtərˈdæm , ˌrɔtərˈdɑm; lit. "The Dam on the River Rotte") is the second-largest city in the Netherlands after the national capital of Amsterdam. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the "New Meuse" inland shipping channel, dug to connect to the Meuse at first and now to the Rhine. Rotterdam's history goes back to 1270, when a dam was constructed in the Rotte. In 1340, Rotterdam was granted city rights by William IV, Count of Holland.
