Lock V was the last lock in the Wilhelmina Canal, which differed from the other four locks in a number of points. The lock has now not only been decommissioned, but has also largely been demolished. Only the contours of the former lock at Lieshout are still visible.
Lock V was not a lock, but a floodgate. A lock was not necessary here, because the canal does not have any gradient here. In other words, ships did not have to overcome any height difference here. The lock at Lieshout was intended to create an additional canal building if necessary. This was necessary, for example, when work was being done on the canal banks and the water level between two locks had to be lowered.
At Lieshout the Wilhelmina Canal could then be closed off from the Zuid-Willemsvaart. As a floodgate, Lock V was equipped with two sets of double lock doors (<>---<>), so that it did not matter on which side of the doors the high water had to be stopped.
The lock was last used in 1972. This was to prevent the canal dike from collapsing during work on the construction of a culvert under the Zuid-Willemsvaart near Beek en Donk. Because nowadays the water levels in the canal can be well controlled with pumps, at some point the lock gates of Lock V were removed, so that there is now free passage from the Zuid-Willemsvaart towards Tilburg or vice versa. The lock was later further dismantled.
One of the largest users of the Wilhelmina Canal is the Lieshout beer brewery Bavaria. From the beginning, this factory has used the Wilhelmina Canal for the supply of its raw materials. A new industrial estate was constructed in 1988, a large part of which Bavaria put into use. At the same time, a new harbor was dug there, which Aldi's distribution center also uses.