Albert Canal in Belgium, 1930-1934
The Albert Canal in Belgium is about 30 miles long and was opened in
1934. It shortened the waterway route between Liège and Antwerp from
94 miles to 75 and reduced the number of locks from 24 to 7. This meant
that barges needed only 7 days for the journey instead of the former 12 days.
Strokes of real genius enabled HOCHTIEF to shorten the time required to
build the stretch of the canal between Haccourt and Briegden from 9 years
to 4½. The value of the contract for this 10.6-mile section was 50 million Reichsmark,
which represented twice the volume of work HOCHTIEF normally completed in
an average year.
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