The Briegden-Neerharen Canal is a canal in Belgian Limburg, north of Maastricht.
The canal was dug from 1930 to 1934. It was to connect the new Albert Canal, near Briegden, with the Zuid-Willemsvaart near Neerharen. That is why the name Connection Channel is also used.
At the time, the Briegden-Neerharen Canal fulfilled a double function. Firstly, it functioned as a feeding channel: the Kempen canals were no longer dependent on the water supply from Maastricht, but were from then on replenished from the Albert Canal. The amount of water that Belgium withdrew from the Meuse and poured into its canal network – which had caused conflicts with the Netherlands on several occasions – thus became a Belgian affair.
Secondly, the canal connected the anti-tank canal, which also formed the Albert Canal and the Zuid-Willemsvaart. The Briegden-Neerharen Canal was therefore expanded into a defense belt: the "Briegden-Neerharenlinie". Several bunkers were built, eight of which still exist. Two bunkers are located in the lock walls and were supposed to protect the lock gates; after all, if the enemy managed to blow it up, the Albert Canal would empty.