Dortmund-Ems Canal

General information about the Dortmund-Ems Canal (DEK) and DEK Cycle Path
The DEK runs between the Dortmund city harbor and Papenburg through the federal states of North Rhine-Westphalia and Lower Saxony, past the "Henrichenburg" ship lift and the larger cities of Münster, Rheine, Lingen and Meppen. It was opened in 1899 and is about 225 kilometers long. The difference in altitude is about 70 meters, there are three river crossings - Lippe, Stever and Ems. The canal can be crossed via numerous bridges. There are always rest areas and small city ports along the canal. The Dortmund-Ems-Kanal-Radweg mostly runs directly along the canal or later along the Ems and is approx. 350 kilometers long. It connects the Ruhr area with the North Sea coast (Emden) and was opened in 1999. Along the canal, it has almost no gradients, with the exception of a few interruptions, e.g. due to power plants. The path is mostly gravel and partly tarred so that it can also be used well in rainy weather. Due to the numerous stop and overnight options, it is very well suited for both a day trip and a multi-day tour.

The Dortmund-Ems Canal forms the backbone of the West German canal network. As a further, initially isolated south-north waterway axis, it has connected the Ruhr area with the North Sea in the area of the Ems estuary since 1899.

Different ship sizes are permitted on the Dortmund-Ems Canal, depending on the state of construction. The shipping traffic in these sections of the route is correspondingly different.
The southernmost section from the port of Dortmund to the confluence of the Wesel-Datteln Canal near Datteln is around 20 km long.
This section of the canal is mainly used by ships coming from the Rhine that approach the port of Dortmund.

The average freight traffic in this section of the canal is around 1.9 million tonnes of freight per year. The container traffic with 7,200 TEU per year is comparatively high.

gdws.wsv.bund.de/DE/wasserstrassen/01_bundeswasserstrassen/05_westdeutsches_Kanalnetz/Dortmund_Ems_Kanal.html