Beatrix Canal apparent to the Dutch throne, Princess Beatrix. Beatrix Canal The Beatrix Canal (Dutch: "Beatrixkanaal") is an 8.4 km long canal in the southern Netherlands. It was constructed to provide the city of Eindhoven with access to the Wilhelmina Canal. In order to be able to regulate the level of the Gender and Dommel streams, which regularly threatened to flood Eindhoven's inner city, an additional Discharge Canal ("Afwateringskanaal"), which is not open to navigation, was dug to connect the Beatrix Canal and the Dommel stream. Into this branch, the Gender now discharges. Upon completion, the canal was named in honour of
Beatrix de Rijk Beatrix de Rijk Beatrix de Rijk (1883–1958) was a pioneering Dutch aviator. On receiving her pilot's licence from the Aéro-Club de France on 6 October 1911, she became the first Dutch woman pilot. Born on 24 July 1883 in Surabaya in the Dutch East Indies, de Rijk was raised in a well-to-do family. She was able to take part in a variety of activities including riding, tennis, and driving. When she was about 20, she went to Paris where she chose a well-paid occupation working as a mannequin for a fashion house. When she became interested in ballooning and flying,