{{Short description|Canal in Colombia}} [[File: Abrazo del sol al rio.jpg|thumb|right|275px| Sunset in the Levee Channel in [[Mahates]] town]] The '''Canal del Dique''' ({{small|[[English language|English]]:}} Levee Channel) is a 118 km artificial canal connecting [[Cartagena Bay]] (at the [[corregimiento]] of [[Pasacaballos]]) to the [[Magdalena River]] in the [[Bolívar Department]] in northern [[Colombia]]. The canal is a bifurcation or artificial arm of the Magdalena River, and its eastern portion forms most of the border between the departments of Bolívar and [[Atlántico Department|Atlántico]]. The port on the Magdalena River is [[Calamar, Bolívar|Calamar]].
==History== The canal was needed since the mouth of the [[Magdalena River]] (which provided access into the interior of Colombia) was virtually impenetrable, and Colombia's two main colonial ports ([[Cartagena, Colombia|Cartagena]] and [[Santa Marta]]) had no access to the river.<ref name="EL">{{Cite web |url=http://www.lablaa.org/blaavirtual/historia/caminos/trans7.htm |title={{!}} Eduardo Lemaitre{{!}} (1988). El Tránsito del Canal del Dique in González, M., Orlando, J. et al. (Eds) ''Caminos Reales de Colombia'' |access-date=2010-07-05 |archive-date=2009-02-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090207030618/http://lablaa.org/blaavirtual/historia/caminos/trans7.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref> It was built by the [[Spain|Spanish]] in 1582 but quickly fell into disrepair; it was rebuilt in 1650.<ref name="GB">{{Cite web |url=http://www.lablaa.org/blaavirtual/publicacionesbanrep/boletin/boleti5/bol21/canal.htm# |title=Boletín Cultural y Bibliográfico, Número 21, Volumen XXVI, 1989 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100722203958/http://lablaa.org/blaavirtual/publicacionesbanrep/boletin/boleti5/bol21/canal.htm# |archive-date=2010-07-22 |url-status=dead |accessdate=2019-08-31}}</ref>
However, by the end of the 18th century, it had become impassable except during times of high runoff, and by 1821 it was completely blocked.<ref name="GB"/> Thus, trade moved increasingly away from Cartagena to Santa Marta and Sabanilla<ref name="GB"/> (a port near the mouth of the Magdalena, later eclipsed by [[Puerto Colombia]] and [[Barranquilla]]). By 1831 traders in the city began to lobby for the canal's reopening, but repeated efforts to redredge the channel failed and by the end of the 19th century a railroad had replaced it.<ref name="GB"/>
[[George M. Totten]] engineer, helped rebuild part of this canal, in the mid-19th century.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://americancanalsociety.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Canal-del-Dique.pdf|title=Canal del Dique (in English)|access-date=December 16, 2022|website= American Canal Society, David G. Barber, date 2012}}</ref>
In 1923 and 1952, the canal was improved, but use then began to decline due to increased sedimentation of the Magdalena River.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://fluidos.eia.edu.co/hidraulica/articuloses/historia/dique/dique.htm |title=Monsalve Garcia, A. El Canal del Dique: 350 Años de Lucha Continua |access-date=2010-07-05 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110707052706/http://fluidos.eia.edu.co/hidraulica/articuloses/historia/dique/dique.htm |archive-date=2011-07-07 |url-status=dead }}</ref> In 1972 an extensive study was made of the morphology of the Rio Magdalena and the Canal del Dique.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Prins |first=A. |url=https://repository.tudelft.nl/record/uuid:d4ee4a1c-1ba6-4c5a-8657-64f1c82a80b1 |title=Río Magdalena and Canal del Dique survey project |date=1973 |publisher=Nedeco}}</ref>
Currently, a modernization of the channel is being considered in order to boost trade in the port of Cartagena.<ref>[http://www.elespectador.com/articulo149213-construccion-del-canal-del-dique-requerira-330000-millones ''El Espectador'', July 9, 2009]</ref>
Since 2013, [[Sedimentation enhancing strategies|river diversions]] have been planned with Dutch company [[Royal HaskoningDHV|Royal Haskoning DHV]] to control [[sediment]] and [[Discharge (hydrology)|water flow]] along the canal.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Project Canal del Dique: bringing Dutch water management expertise to Colombia|url=https://www.royalhaskoningdhv.com/en-gb/news-room/news/project-canal-del-dique-c-bringing-dutch-water-management-expertise-to-colombia/8504|access-date=2021-03-12|website=www.royalhaskoningdhv.com|language=nl|archive-date=2021-06-15|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210615172026/https://www.royalhaskoningdhv.com/en-gb/news-room/news/project-canal-del-dique-c-bringing-dutch-water-management-expertise-to-colombia/8504|url-status=dead}}</ref> This has led to creation of a new [[mangrove]] [[wetland]] area, land building and [[Restoration ecology|ecological restoration]] in the region.
===In the literature=== The canal figures prominently in [[Gabriel García Márquez]]'s novel ''[[Love in the Time of Cholera]]''.
==References== {{Reflist}}
== External links== {{Commons category|Canal del Dique}} * [http://www.cardique.gov.co/ The Canal del Dique Corporation (Spanish)]
{{Authority control}} {{Coord|10|09|N|75|30|W|display=title|region:CO_type:river_source:GNS-enwiki}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Canal Del Dique}} [[Category:Canals in Colombia]] [[Category:Canals opened in the 16th century]] [[Category:Buildings and structures completed in 1582]] [[Category:Transport infrastructure completed in the 1580s]]