Eider Canal conservation areas. Eider Canal The Eider Canal (also called the Schleswig-Holstein Canal) was an artificial waterway in southern Denmark (later northern Germany) which connected the North Sea with the Baltic Sea by way of the rivers Eider and Levensau. Constructed between 1777 and 1784, the Eider Canal was built to create a path for ships entering and exiting the Baltic that was shorter and less storm-prone than navigating around the Jutland peninsula. In the 1880s the canal was replaced by the enlarged Kiel Canal, which includes some of the Eider Canal's watercourse. The canal's watercourse followed the border between the
North Sea Canal sod, and straw, where disease, fights, and alcohol abuse were rampant. On 1 November 1876, the North Sea Canal was officially opened by King William III of the Netherlands. Over the years the canal has been widened and deepened several times. The North Sea Canal and the IJ have 10 side canals (in Dutch: "Zijkanaal"), which connect to rivers and other canals which used to flow into the former IJ Bay before its reclamation. Vessels with a draft of more than 14 metres should use the IJgeul. To protect access to the channel jetties were built in the sea. In