The Rhine–Herne Canal () is a transportation canal in the Ruhr area of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, with five canal locks. The canal was built over a period of eight years (5 April 1906 – 14 July 1914) and connects the harbour in Duisburg on the Rhine () with the Dortmund-Ems Canal near Henrichenburg (), following the valley of the Emscher. It was widened in the 1980s. The Rhein-Herne canal ship was designed specifically for this canal; normally of about 1300–1350 ton capacity, it has a maximum draft of , a length of approximately , and maximum beam of .
Originally the Rhine-Herne canal ended in Herne, where it met a branch of the Dortmund-Ems-Kanal running from Henrichenburg to Herne, the intersection situated just above the East Herne lock.
After the closure of the last part of the Henrichenburg to Herne canal, the Henrichenburg-Herne section of the Dortmund-Ems was added to the Rhein-Herne Canal.
Water system
The distribution of water in the canal is realised through five pump stations. Located at Duisburg-Meiderich, Oberhausen, Gelsenkirchen, Wanne-Eickel and East Herne, they pump water from the Rhine into the canal at each stage. As well as this, water from the Lippe river to the east is brought in through the Datteln-Hamm Canal.
Locks
Duisburg-Meiderich sluicegate
In 1980 the current sluicegate was completed, including a under-gate and control platform, which has now become a visible yellow landmark in the Ruhr landscape. The intended harbour of the old lock is today underwater and part of the foundations of the canal walls. This harbour was meant to be a possible spot for the eventual significant reconstruction of the lock, but it was never used for this purpose.
A possible reconstruction of the sluice gate was commissioned in 1914 with the canal opening. Instead of the old sluice of in length and in breadth a new sluice chamber with a usable length of and a breadth of were commissioned, so that bigger ships with lighters (barges) as specified in Euro class II can pass through the sluice gates.
Ports
Duisburg
The canal begins in Duisburg along with the Schifffahrtskanal; connected to land by three bays of the Kanalhafen, and to the rest of the world via the Rhine.
The Rhine–Herne Canal headquarters is in the Meiderich district of Duisburg, it serves as the water and shipping management canal and its locks from Essen to Herne. From here maintenance and repair work are organised and performed.
Oberhausen marina
The Oberhausen marina is a yacht port opened in 2004 in close proximity to the CentrO shopping centre. The port has a water depth of and over 13 bridges. Also at the Oberhausen marina are the attractions Sealife Oberhausen and Oberhausen Modellbahn World.
City port of Essen
The Stadthafen Essen (City port of Essen) is the youngest port on the Rhine–Herne Canal opened in 1934 by the city of Essen, and operated since 1987 by Stadtwerke Essen.
The port consists of a doubled sided canal side quay together with a harbour port at right angles onto the canal, which together form a water area of with associated dock-land of The dock handles bulk goods such as solid mineral fuels, petroleum and chemical products, stone, earth and iron and steel as well as recyclable materials, and is an important transhipment point.
City port of Gelsenkirchen
The port of the city of Gelsenkirchen (Stadthafen Gelsenkirchen) was opened in July 1914 and is the oldest port on the Rhine–Herne Canal.
The port has two docks branched from the canal situated just east of the lock at Gelsenkirchen and has a water surface of . The industrial port is ~ and the trading port ~. A private railway of length is operated which is linked to the tracks of the Deutsche Bahn
Formerly the port dealt mainly with coal and mining products, now the port is a major hub for petroleum products and second-largest inland port for cereals in North Rhine-Westphalia. It is operated by the Gelsenkirchener Logistik-, Hafen- und Servicegesellschaft (Gelsenkirchener logistics, harbour and service company.) a subsidiary of Stadtwerke Gelsenkirchen.
Port Grimberg
Hafen Grimberg (Port Grimberg) is on the south canal bank in Gelsenkirchen, near the city boundary to Herne. It was named after the nearby Castle Grimberg, of which today only the foundations remain.