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River 'IJssel' (), sometimes called 'Gelderse IJssel' ("Gelderland IJssel") to avoid confusion with its Hollandse IJssel counterpart in the west of the Netherlands, is a branch of the Rhine in the Dutch provinces of Gelderland and Overijssel. River IJssel flows from Westervoort, east of the city of Arnhem, until it discharges into the IJsselmeer ("Lake IJssel", until the 1932 completion of the Afsluitdijk known as the Zuiderzee, a North Sea inlet). River IJssel is one of the three major distributary branches into which the Rhine divides itself shortly after crossing the German-Dutch border, the other two being the rivers Nederrijn and Waal.

Contents

History

The IJssel as the lower part of the Oude IJssel

Characteristics

The IJssel as a Rhine distributary

Tributaries and connecting canals

River crossings

Road bridges

Ralroad bridges

Cable ferries

References

History

The name "IJssel" is thought to derive from the Germanic ''i sala'', meaning "dark water". In medieval times, the Zuiderzee had not yet formed from the complex of lakes known as Flevo; the IJssel flowed through these lakes with the last, tidal stretch being called Vlie. Now cut off from the IJssel by means of the Afsluitdijk, Vlie remains as the strait separating the islands of Vlieland (itself named after the Vlie strait) and Terschelling. It is hypothesised that the now-poldered tidal inlets of Medem (near Medemblik) and IJ (near Amsterdam) once were branches of river IJssel.

The IJssel as the lower part of the Oude IJssel

Main articles: Oude IJssel

The IJssel once was the lower part of the Oude IJssel (lit. "Old IJssel", German ''Issel''), a small river that rises in Germany and is now a 70 km long tributary of the IJssel. The connection between Rhine and IJssel was probably artificial, allegedly dug by men under the Roman general Nero Claudius Drusus as a defence against Germanic tribes and to let Roman ships carry troops along it^[1]. The current Oude IJssel is the second-largest contributor to the flow of the river until today, after river Rhine.
The source of the Oude IJssel is near Borken in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. First it flows south-west until it nearly reaches the Rhine near Wesel; then it turns north-west. After passing through Isselburg it crosses the border with the Netherlands. The river, called Oude IJssel from here, then flows through Doetinchem and joins the IJssel at Doesburg.

Characteristics

The average discharge of the IJssel can change significantly. The average discharge has been stated as 300 cubic meters per second. This can be as low as 140 and as high as 1800, depending on the Nederrijn locks west of Arnhem, which regulate the amount of water taken in by the Nederrijn and IJssel branches.
As a lowlands river, the IJssel has a lot of bends and naturally occurring dead branches (locally called "hank"); some bends have been cut off by man (most notably near Rheden and Doesburg), reducing the river's length from 146 km^[2] to 125 km, but not nearly as radically as with river Meuse. The naturally occurring phenomenon of sedimental island-forming in the outside of bends has been regulated to the point of non-occurrence since the late nineteenth century.

The IJssel as a Rhine distributary

From the moment the connection between the Rhine and IJssel was dug, the Rhine became the largest contributor to the flow of the IJssel, although only a relative low amount of the total Rhine flow is making its way into the IJssel system. Various tributaries can sometimes add quite some water to the total flow of the IJssel river, such as the Berkel and Schipbeek streams. The IJssel river is the only branch of the that is taking up tributary rivers rather than giving rise to distributaries.
Only in the last few miles of the river's run, near the city of Kampen, distributaries form, resulting in the relatively minor IJssel delta. Some of the branches have been dammed up to lower the risk of flooding; others have silted up. Several of the delta branches are, however, still connected without interruption. Most of the damming-up was done prior to 1932, when the Zuiderzee was turned into the freshwater IJsselmeer lake. The area had been prone to flooding in times of northwestern gales, pushing back the saline Zuiderzee water into the IJssel delta and preventing the water flowing from the mouths of the IJssel branches from discharging into the Zuiderzee.
The modern-day names of the delta branches are, west to east, Keteldiep, Kattendiep, Noorddiep, Ganzendiep and Goot. Of these, the Keteldiep and Kattendiep channels are the main navigational arteries; the Noorddiep has been closed off at both sides. Another branch, De Garste, had already completely silted up by the middle of the nineteenth century^[3]. Until the beginning of the twentieth century, the Ganzendiep branch up to the Goot fork was known as IJssel proper³ due to it being the historical main channel, with the present-day main channel being called Regtediep or Rechterdiep until well into the twentieth century^[4].
The IJssel, although now technically "merely" a Rhine branch, has retained most of the character of a distinct river in its own right, in no small part due to the fact that it has its own tributaries and, in river Oude IJssel, even a former headstream.

Tributaries and connecting canals

The following canals and tributary streams connect to the IJssel, in downstream order:

★ Apeldoorns Kanaal (west) near the town of Dieren

★ river Oude IJssel (east) at the city of Doesburg

★ the Berkel stream (east) at the city of Zutphen

★ the Twentekanaal (east) between Zutphen and the village of Eefde (municipality of Gorssel)

★ the Schipbeek stream (east) near the city of Deventer

★ the Grift stream (west) at the town of Hattem; its lower reaches have been channelised to form the mouth of the Griftkanaal

★ the Willemsvaart canal (east) at the city of Zwolle

★ the Zwolle-IJsselkanaal (east) near Zwolle

River crossings

Road bridges

Road bridges across river IJssel (with nearest places on the left and right bank):

★ Arnhem - Westervoort

★ Arnhem - Duiven (A12 motorway)

★ Ellecom - Doesburg (N317)

★ Brummen - Zutphen (N314)

★ Zutphen - Zutphen

★ Wilp - Deventer (A1 motorway)

★ Deventer - Deventer (N344)

★ Hattem - Zwolle

★ Hattemerbroek - Zwolle (A28 motorway)

★ Kampen - Kampen (N764)

★ Kampen - Kampen

★ Kampen - Noordoostpolder (N50)

Ralroad bridges

Railroad bridges (with nearest train station on the left and right bank):

★ Arnhem Velperpoort – Duiven

★ Brummen/Klarenbeek – Zutphen

★ Twello – Deventer

★ Wezep – Zwolle

Cable ferries

Only those ferries capable of carrying motorised vehicles are included.

★ Dieren – Olburgen

★ Brummen – Bronkhorst

★ Welsum – Olst

★ Vorchten – Wijhe

References

1. Van Goor's aardrijkskundig woordenboek van Nederland, , K. et al. ed., ter Laan, Van Goor Zonen, 1942,
2. Larousse universel en deux volumes, , Claude ed., Augé, Larousse, 1922,
3. Grote historische atlas van Nederland (3) : Oost-Nederland 1830-1855, , , Grote, Wolters-Noordhoff Atlasprodukties, 1990,
4. Schoolatlas der geheele aarde, , B. ed., Kwast, Wolters, 1932,