{"id":3651,"date":"2015-10-26T07:00:24","date_gmt":"2015-10-26T07:00:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/dutch\/?p=3651"},"modified":"2015-10-25T20:31:36","modified_gmt":"2015-10-25T20:31:36","slug":"de-afsluitdijk-enclosing-the-sea","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/dutch\/de-afsluitdijk-enclosing-the-sea\/","title":{"rendered":"De Afsluitdijk – Enclosing the Sea"},"content":{"rendered":"

So, last week, I wrote about the\u00a0Zuiderzeewerken<\/a><\/em>, which gave birth to the province Flevoland. But not only that.<\/p>\n

\"As<\/a>

As you can see, the Afsluitdijk was finished in 1932, after which there was space for the creation of Flevoland. (Image by Io Herodotus at Commons.wikipedia.org)<\/p><\/div>\n

The\u00a0Zuiderzeewerken<\/em>\u00a0had as their goal to create more land for agricultural use, and to “tame” the\u00a0Zuiderzee<\/em>, the part of the\u00a0Noordzee\u00a0<\/em>(North Sea) that protruded well into the Dutch inland. Another goal, which was pursued already centuries before the proposal of the\u00a0Zuiderzeewerken\u00a0<\/em>at the end of the 1800s, was to stop the frequent floods and devastation the\u00a0Zuiderzee\u00a0<\/em>would cause through its influence of the Noordzee<\/em>.<\/p>\n

The Dutch wanted to regulate this better. And one of the first, and probably the most important way to do this was the\u00a0Afsluitdijk<\/em>.\u00a0The name literally means the “Lock Dyke”, since it locks up the Zuiderzee<\/i>, away from its parent, the\u00a0Noordzee<\/em>. The name\u00a0dijk\u00a0<\/em>is not entirely accurate – a\u00a0dijk\u00a0<\/em>refers to a separation between water and land, whereas the\u00a0Afsluitdijk\u00a0<\/em>separates two waters – making it a\u00a0dam<\/em>. The accurate name would therefore be\u00a0Afsluitdam<\/em>!<\/p>\n

Whatever its name, the 32 km (almost 20 mi) long road on the\u00a0dam, which itself is actually 30 km (almost\u00a019 mi) long. This closure was built from 1927-1932: a remarkable feat for its time! So the question that comes up, of course, is:<\/p>\n

How did they do it?<\/strong><\/p>\n

First, in 1920, the Amsteldiepdijk\u00a0<\/i>or\u00a0Korte Afsluitdijk\u00a0<\/em>was built, which served as a model and try-out for the real deal. This\u00a0dijk<\/em> was only 2.5 km (1.5 mi) long, and was connected\u00a0Noord-Holland\u00a0<\/em>to the island\u00a0Wieringen<\/em>. The experience made in this short project was later used in the construction of the\u00a0Afsluitdijk<\/em>.<\/p>\n

That construction started in 1927. The\u00a0Afsluitdijk\u00a0<\/em>was built from four locations: from the coastal line in Noord-Holland at\u00a0Den Oever<\/em>, from the coastal line in Friesland at\u00a0Zurich<\/em>, from\u00a0Breezand<\/em>, and from\u00a0Kornwederzand<\/em>.\u00a0Breezand\u00a0<\/em>and\u00a0Kornwederzand\u00a0<\/em>were both\u00a0werkeilanden\u00a0<\/em>(work islands), which were built on the track of the Afsluitdijk.\u00a0<\/i><\/p>\n

As a foundation,\u00a0wilgtenen\u00a0<\/em>were used – willow rods. These were sunk by placing stone blocks on top of them. Now I bet you think: wood? How is that supposed to withstand all that water force for decades? Well, it didn’t. Already in 1931, it became clear that the wood was infected with paalworm<\/i>, a parasite that makes the wood hollow, and the steel rods that kept the wood together was already strongly affected by the sea. German\u00a0baryte was used as a replacement, a strong mineral that withstands water very well.<\/p>\n

Keileem\u00a0<\/em>(boulder clay) was used for the first time in the\u00a0Afsluitdijk<\/em>, because it was deemed stronger than sand or clay. Together with sand and stones,\u00a0keileem\u00a0<\/em>formed the body of the dijk<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Two, and later three,\u00a0sluizen\u00a0<\/em>(locks) were inserted into the\u00a0dijk<\/em> to regulate the water in the\u00a0IJsselmeer<\/em>, since rivers would still increase the amount of water in it.<\/p>\n

On this dijk<\/i>, a road was built, and that basically completed the work in 1932. On \u00a0September 20 of that year, the\u00a0Zuiderzee\u00a0<\/em>officially became the\u00a0IJsselmeer<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

The Afsluitdijk today (Image by bertknot at Flickr.com)<\/p><\/div>\n

Success<\/b><\/p>\n

The first noticeable success of the Afsluitdijk\u00a0<\/em>was in 1953, when the\u00a0Watersnoodramp\u00a0<\/em>struck. It withstood the high water, and saved a lot of lives and disaster around the IJsselmeer<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Criticism<\/strong><\/p>\n

Back in the days of its construction, fishermen were complaining, because the fishery in the Zuiderzee\u00a0<\/i>would end with the\u00a0Afsluitdijk<\/em>. However, their protest was not enough, and it was built anyway. A small poem was left, that described this:<\/p>\n

Eerst de zee en nu de netten <\/em>
\nnam men van de Urkers af <\/em>
\nEn zoo delft men, schop voor schopje <\/em>
\nlangzaam aan des visschers graf.<\/em><\/p>\n

Do you understand what it says? Let me know in the comments!<\/p>\n

Visiting the\u00a0Afsluitdijk<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

You can also visit the\u00a0Afsluitdijk<\/em>, climb the uitkijktoren\u00a0<\/em>(observation tower)\u00a0and see the dam from up high, and take nice pictures like the one above. This\u00a0Monument op de Afsluitdijk\u00a0<\/em>was built in 1933 at the\u00a0Vlieter<\/em>, where the\u00a0Afsluitdijk\u00a0<\/i>was closed in 1932.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

The Monument op de Afsluitdijk (Image by Ingo Ronner at Flickr.com)<\/p><\/div>\n

Have you been to the Afsluitdijk before?<\/p>\n

Are there similar spectacular constructions in your country?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\"\"

So, last week, I wrote about the\u00a0Zuiderzeewerken, which gave birth to the province Flevoland. But not only that. The\u00a0Zuiderzeewerken\u00a0had as their goal to create more land for agricultural use, and to “tame” the\u00a0Zuiderzee, the part of the\u00a0Noordzee\u00a0(North Sea) that protruded well into the Dutch inland. Another goal, which was pursued already centuries before the proposal…<\/p>\n

Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":110,"featured_media":3652,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[60713],"tags":[358750,9388,358756,358749,358751],"class_list":["post-3651","post","type-post","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-culture-2","tag-ijsselmeer","tag-water","tag-waterwerken","tag-zuiderzee","tag-zuiderzeewerken"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t