During the 1920s the Belgian government demanded a replacement for the Canal through Zuid-Beveland , to keep the port of Antwerp accessible for the lucrative Rhine trade . According to the original plan , the new canal was supposed to connect Antwerp directly to Moerdijk on the Hollands Diep , but after the Second World War and the North Sea flood of 1953 the Dutch government decided that the new canal should be part of the Delta Works and proposed a more westerly route , in fact it would take the same route as the ancient Striene river . After the Belgian government agreed in 1963 , work on the canal began
North Sea flood of 1953
North Sea flood of 1953
Scheldt–Rhine Canal