The broken weir in Grave attracts a lot of attention. Locals, tourists and day trippers have gathered on the bridge at the weir to watch the enormous amount of water squeeze through the weir.
“We were in the area, so we’ll have a look,” says a man who has stopped on the bridge with his bicycle. The Maas water rages below him. “I like it,” he says, before realizing that “fun” isn’t the right word. “It is also very bad. I am a motorboat driver myself. So it is very bad. And exciting too.”
“This is going faster than you think.”
A little further on is a man who recently sailed his boat across the Maas during the summer holidays. “We’re lucky we don’t come back today or we would have been stuck here.” He too is impressed by the force with which the Meuse squeezes through the hole in the weir. “This is going faster than you think.”
The water in the Maas drops through the hole at about 5 centimeters per hour. It is still unclear how long it will take before the weir in the Maas is made again. According to a Rijkswaterstaat employee, something can only be said about this once it is clear what the situation looks like under water. In the meantime, the water level in the Meuse will continue to drop. “We have alerted as many people, companies, marinas and everyone involved as possible.”
“Difficult or not difficult, it will still have to be solved.”
The repair work is not easy, partly due to the strong current that exists. Although that is no excuse for the Rijkswaterstaat employee. “Difficult or not difficult, it will still have to be solved,” he says matter-of-factly. On the Rijkswaterstaat website the latest developments are kept up to date.
In the meantime it has become a bit busier on the bridge with people coming to have a look. “What a violence, isn’t it”, sighs a man who is looking at the flowing water. “What a misery again. I live near here. So when I read it, I wanted to come and have a look.” He takes a gloomy view. “The level has already dropped quite a bit. I just hope they get it fixed.”
These images clearly show how the water flows through the broken weir.
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