Wevelgem (Brussels Morning Newspaper) – Planned construction for a new Leie bridge linking Wevelgem to Lauwe was scheduled to begin during the upcoming year. The Flemish Waterway filed the permit request for this project. The proposed bridge requires construction to support bigger ships passing between French ports in Paris and the Flemish harbour precincts.
Work on the new bridge over the Leie River, connecting Wevelgem and Lauwe, is expected to begin in 2026, following the submission of a permit application by the Flemish Waterway. The project aims to facilitate increased and larger vessel traffic between Flemish ports and Paris as part of the Seine-Scheldt route modernisation.
“We are investing in the entire province to modernize inland shipping. This is happening in particular on the route between Paris and the Flemish ports, the Seine-Scheldt route,”
explains Geert Weymeis of De Vlaamse Waterweg.
The current bridge, standing at just over 5 meters in height, is insufficient for modern shipping needs, requiring a replacement with a minimum clearance of 7 meters to accommodate ships carrying three stacked container layers. The Flemish Waterway estimates construction will take 1.5 to 2 years, with a total cost of approximately €26 million.
“The Leie is the most important axis. On that axis, all bridges must be high enough to allow ships that can transport 3 layers of containers on top of each other. The current bridge is just over 5 meters high, but that is too low. A bridge must be at least 7 meters high. Only in this way will the Leie remain an alternative for busy road traffic.”
“In addition to the construction of a new bridge, the surroundings will also be improved. In Wevelgem, there will be an open landscape, and we will create a wetter nature. In the loop of the approach slopes for cyclists, a natural infiltration waterfall will be created for all of Wevelgem’s rainwater. Only during heavy rainfall will rainwater flow into the Leie in the future.”
What is the historical and economic context of the Leie river infrastructure projects?
In West Flanders, the Leie River functions as a critical watercourse that has supported commercial trade and textile manufacturing activities throughout history.
The Leie River enables more than 20 million tons of annual shipping traffic, which supports both regional and international freight transportation, as reported by the Flemish Waterway. Inland navigation through the Seine-Scheldt route along the Leie River links the Port of Antwerp to Paris while transporting around 10% of all Belgian inland cargo traffic. Modern container vessels cannot pass through the Leie River, where 12 bridges maintain a substandard 7-meter clearance because of old infrastructure constraints.
A 2023 Flemish government report confirms that road freight operations generate 75% of regional cargo transport, but these activities trigger road congestion along with environmental emissions. The EU Sustainable Mobility Strategy identifies inland shipping as crucial because its CO₂ emissions from ton-kilometres are 5 times those to road transport.
The €26 million Wevelgem-Lauwe bridge project stands with two additional investments worth €40 million for Menen bridge replacement (2025–2027) and €15 million for Lock 5 upgrades (2024). The implementation of these goals supports Flanders’ objective to raise inland shipping’s market share from 10% to 15% by 2030. Coupled with traffic modelling, research demonstrates that the new bridge will halt 12,000 truck journeys each year, resulting in a reduction of 8000 tons of CO₂ pollution.
