The Omleiding te Helmond is a canal detour section of the Zuid-Willemsvaart, a historic 123-kilometer waterway connecting the Meuse River at Maastricht to the Dieze River at 's-Hertogenbosch, spanning the provinces of Limburg and North Brabant in the Netherlands and extending into Belgian Limburg. This detour was constructed to route the canal east of Helmond's town center, bypassing the congestion caused by the original alignment that ran just west of the city center. Construction began on 11 December 1981 and the detour officially opened on 11 December 1993, at a total cost of approximately 160 million guilders. The new route incorporates high-level bridges over the canal, ensuring uninterrupted road traffic flow, and consolidates what were formerly Locks 7 through 9 into a single new lock known as Sluis Helmond (also called Sluis Brouwhuis). As a man-made canal, the Omleiding te Helmond offers a distinctly different fishing environment compared to natural waterways, characterized by the structured, engineered banks and consistent water levels typical of active commercial navigation channels.