In the mid-19th century, the river Senne, which was once the lifeblood of Brussels, had become its greatest liability. It had become polluted and it flooded frequently becoming a health hazard to the working class neighbourhoods that surrounded it. By the 1860s, the decision was made to bury much of the river beneath the city itself, transforming both the urban landscape and the health of its inhabitants. The covering of the Senne stands as one of the most dramatic examples of 19th-century urban intervention and a defining moment in the history of Brussels.
Underneath this wide Boulevard Anspach flows River Senne. Credit: Dave Ciskowski
For centuries, the Senne had been central to Brussels. It powered mills, supported trade, and provided water for daily life. But as the city grew, especially during the rapid industrial expansion of the early 1800s, the river’s condition deteriorated sharply.
Factories lined its banks, dumping waste directly into the water. Households, lacking modern sewage systems, used the Senne as an open sewer. By the 1850s, the river had effectively become a stagnant channel of filth. During dry periods, it shrank into foul-smelling pools. During heavy rains, it flooded, spreading contaminated water through densely populated neighborhoods. The results were repeated outbreaks of cholera caused as much by the river itself as by poverty, poor hygiene, and lack of clean drinking water that plagued the lower city.
The city authorities in Brussels resolved to act and invited engineers to propose solutions. Dozens of plans were submitted. Some suggested diverting large volumes of cleaner water from other rivers to dilute the Senne’s pollution. Others proposed rerouting its main course into the Lesser Senne, which would be enlarged to better serve boat traffic and mills. Architect Léon Suys offered a more direct solution: to enclose the river within a system of underground channels, removing it from sight while guiding its flow beneath the city.
Map of Brussels with the Senne in 1837. Credit: Wikimedia Commons
Also read: The Underground Rivers of London
Suys found an ally in Jules Anspach, who became mayor in 1863. Influenced by the sweeping urban transformations taking place in Paris under Georges-Eugène Haussmann, Anspach envisioned a modern Brussels that was clean, orderly, and worthy of a capital city.
His support for Suys’s proposal was no mere endorsement of a practical solution, it was a calculated move aligned with a broader urban vision. Anspach had long sought to remake the impoverished lower city into a centre of business and commerce. By the mid-19th century, much of the middle class had abandoned the crowded, unsanitary downtown for healthier suburbs such as the Leopold Quarter and Avenue Louise, draining the city of valuable tax revenue.
The covering of the Senne offered an opportunity to reverse this decline. By eliminating the maze of narrow alleys and dead ends that characterised the lower town and replacing them with a broad, straight, open boulevard linking the city’s two rapidly expanding railway stations, Anspach could address multiple concerns at once. The project promised not only to improve sanitation and traffic circulation, but also to beautify the city and draw the middle classes back to its centre.
The underground tunnels under construction. Credit: Wikimedia Commons
Work began in 1867 and continued into the 1870s. The project involved straightening sections of the river, constructing vaulted tunnels to contain it, and building broad boulevards above the newly covered waterway.
The most visible result of this transformation was the creation of central thoroughfares, including the future Boulevard Anspach. These wide, elegant streets replaced overcrowded and unsanitary districts that had previously grown up along the riverbanks.
The engineering challenge was immense. The Senne’s irregular flow had to be controlled, and the new underground channels needed to handle both everyday water levels and seasonal floods. Yet the project was completed with remarkable efficiency for its time, becoming a model for urban sanitation efforts elsewhere in Europe.
While the covering of the Senne improved sanitation and reduced disease, it came at a significant social cost. Entire neighbourhoods, often inhabited by the working poor, were demolished to make way for the new boulevards. Thousands of residents were displaced, and the historic fabric of parts of the city was irrevocably altered.
Today, the Senne still flows beneath Brussels, largely invisible to the people above it. Only a few sections of the river remain uncovered on the city’s outskirts. What was once a central feature of urban life has been reduced to an unseen infrastructure channel.
Boulevard Anspach in 1880. Credit: Wikimedia Commons
Comments
Post a Comment