Albert Canal

Albert Canal waterway, c.80 mi (130 km) long, N Belgium, from the Meuse River to the Scheldt River; constructed 1930-39. The canal connects the important industrial region around Liège with the port of Antwerp , Belgium.

Greisch, René (1929–2000). Belgian architect and engineer, celebrated for his many bridges in Belgium and Luxembourg, and for his search for harmony between aesthetics and technical innovations. Among his suspension-bridges may be cited that over the Maas and the Albert Canal, Wandre (1989), and another over the Albert Canal at Hermalle-sous-Argenteau (1983)

Bibliography

Loo (ed.) (2003)

Eben Emael fortress, a series of concrete and steel emplacements, situated on the Albert Canal north of Liège, which in May 1940 guarded the bridges at Briedgen, Veldwezelt, and Vroenhoven, immediately west of Maastricht. They were garrisoned with 700 men and were a linchpin of the Belgian defences at the start of the German offensive in the west on 10 May 1940 (see FALL GELB) which preceded the fall of France. They seemed impregnable, but 78 German engineers of the Koch Assault Detachment landed on top of the fortifications in gliders. Using hollow charges (see explosives), the engineers destroyed some emplacements, and kept the garrison cowed, while German airborne forces captured the bridges. The next day the 223rd Infantry Division arrived and captured the remaining fortifications. The Koch Detachment lost just six men killed and twenty wounded.