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Zuiderzee Works
The Zuiderzee Works ( nl, Zuiderzeewerken) is a man-made system of dams and dikes, land reclamation and water drainage work, in total the largest hydraulic engineering project undertaken by the Netherlands during the twentieth century. The project involved the damming of the Zuiderzee, a large, shallow inlet of the North Sea, and the reclamation of land in the newly enclosed water using polders. Its main purposes are to improve flood protection and create additional land for agriculture. The American Society of Civil Engineers declared these works, together with the Delta Works in the South-West of the Netherlands, as among the Seven Wonders of the Modern World. Background The "Netherlands" (literally the "Low Countries") have low flat topography, with half the land area below or less than one metre above sea level, and has for centuries been subject to periodic flooding by the sea. The seventeenth century saw early proposals to tame and enclose the Zuiderzee, but the ambitiou ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Levee
A levee (), dike (American English), dyke (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English), embankment, floodbank, or stop bank is a structure that is usually soil, earthen and that often runs parallel (geometry), parallel to the course of a river in its floodplain or along low-lying coastlines. The purpose of a levee is to keep the course of rivers from changing and to protect against flooding of the area adjoining the river or coast. Levees can be naturally occurring ridge structures that form next to the bank of a river, or be an artificially constructed fill dirt, fill or wall that regulates water levels. Ancient civilizations in the Indus Valley civilisation, Indus Valley, ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia and China all built levees. Today, levees can be found around the world, and failures of levees due to erosion or other causes can be major disasters. Etymology Speakers of American English (notably in the Midwestern United States, Midwest and Deep South) u ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cornelis Lely
Cornelis Lely (; 23 September 1854 – 22 January 1929) was a Dutch politician of the Liberal Union (LU) and civil engineer. He oversaw the passage of an act of parliament authorising construction of the Zuiderzee Works, a huge project – designed to his own plans – that turned the Zuiderzee into a lake and made possible the conversion of a vast area of former seabed into dry land. Early life Cornelis Lely was born on 23 September 1854 in Amsterdam in the Netherlands, son of an oilseed trader. Lely went to the Hogere Burgerschool (HBS). He later studied at the Polytechnic School in Delft and graduated as civil engineer in 1875. Career outline Between 1886 and 1891, Lely led the technical research team that explored the possibility, later approved by a State Commission, of enclosing the Zuiderzee. The Dutch parliament passed the law creating the Zuiderzee Works on 14 June 1918, using Lely's plan. He served three times as Minister of Transport and Water Management (in 189 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pilot Polder Andijk
The pilot Polder Andijk, or Test Polder Andijk, ''Proefpolder Andijk'' in Dutch, is a polder established in 1926 - 1927 in the Zuiderzee near the village of Andijk. The aim of this prototype is to study the embankments and agriculture for future polders in the Zuiderzee Works. In 1929, the pilot polder was inaugurated by Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands. Construction In 1924 the Lovink Committee published a proposal to build a pilot polder. This polder could, on a small scale experiment future agriculture. The knowledge would then be used for the Wieringermeer. For this reason, in 1926-1927 near the village Andijk, of land were reclaimed. On August 27, 1927, the pilot polder was drained. The cost of the polder, about 1 million guilders, was relatively high, but the cost of polders to come should be lower. Research The Directorate of Wieringermeer wanted to study the behavior of a soil recovered from the sea, and how saline soils can be cultivated. After the draining was compl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wieringen
Wieringen () is part of the municipality of Hollands Kroon, established in 2012 in the province of North Holland in the Netherlands. It is a former municipality in this province, with its name appearing in records of the late 9th and early 10th century. From 1200 it was known as an island, also named Wieringen, which was separated by water from the mainland during one of the disastrous storm floods towards the end of the late Middle Ages that changed the coastline. By draining, dikes and landfill from 1924 to 1932, the island was rejoined to the mainland. In the 21st century, the local governments proposed a project to restore the insular status of Wieringen by construction of a recreational lake to be called the Wieringerrandmeer. The project was cancelled in 2010 for financial reasons. Population centres The former municipality of Wieringen consisted of the following cities, towns, villages and/or districts: Dam, De Haukes, De Hoelm, Den Oever, Hippolytushoef, Hollebalg, N ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Zuiderzee Act
The Zuiderzee or Zuider Zee (; old spelling ''Zuyderzee'' or ''Zuyder Zee'') was a shallow bay of the North Sea in the northwest of the Netherlands, extending about 100 km (60 miles) inland and at most 50 km (30 miles) wide, with an overall depth of about 4 to 5 metres (13–16 feet) and a coastline of about 300 km (200 miles). It covered . Its name is Dutch for "southern sea", indicating that the name originates in Friesland, to the north of the Zuiderzee (cf. North Sea). In the 20th century the majority of the Zuiderzee was closed off from the North Sea by the construction of the Afsluitdijk, leaving the mouth of the inlet to become part of the Wadden Sea. The salt water inlet changed into a fresh water lake now called the IJsselmeer (IJssel Lake) after the river that drains into it, and by means of drainage and polders, an area of some was reclaimed as land. This land eventually became the province of Flevoland, with a population of nearly 400,000 (2011). ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Afsluitdijk 01
The ''Afsluitdijk'' (; fry, Ofslútdyk; nds-nl, Ofsluutdiek; en, "Closure Dyke") is a major dam and causeway in the Netherlands. It was constructed between 1927 and 1932 and runs from Den Oever in North Holland province to the village of Zurich in Friesland province, over a length of and a width of , at an initial height of above sea level. The ''Afsluitdijk'' is a fundamental part of the larger Zuiderzee Works, damming off the Zuiderzee, a salt water inlet of the North Sea, and turning it into the fresh water lake of the IJsselmeer. It is a major landwinning project and a quicker road-connection between the North and West of the Netherlands. The motorway on the ''Afsluitdijk'' was the initial demonstration site for a speed limit in the Netherlands. History Reasons for construction The Afsluitdijk (literally translated: shut-off-dyke) was completed in 1932, thereby shutting off the Zuiderzee (lit: Southern Sea) from the North Sea. Until then, the Zuiderzee had b ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fighting occurring throughout Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Pacific, and parts of Asia. An estimated 9 million soldiers were killed in combat, plus another 23 million wounded, while 5 million civilians died as a result of military action, hunger, and disease. Millions more died in genocides within the Ottoman Empire and in the 1918 influenza pandemic, which was exacerbated by the movement of combatants during the war. Prior to 1914, the European great powers were divided between the Triple Entente (comprising France, Russia, and Britain) and the Triple Alliance (containing Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy). Tensions in the Balkans came to a head on 28 June 1914, following the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Throne Speech
A speech from the throne, or throne speech, is an event in certain monarchies in which the reigning sovereign, or a representative thereof, reads a prepared speech to members of the nation's legislature when a session is opened, outlining the government's agenda and focus for the forthcoming session, or in some cases closed. When a session is opened, the address sets forth the government's priorities with respect to its legislative agenda, for which the cooperation of the legislature is sought. The speech is often accompanied with formal ceremony and is often held annually, although in some places it may occur more or less frequently, whenever a new session of the legislature is opened. Historically, when monarchs exercised personal influence and overall decision-making in government, a speech from the throne would outline the policies and objectives of the monarch; the speech was usually prepared by the monarch's advisers, but the monarch supervised the drafting of the speec ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wilhelmina Of The Netherlands
Wilhelmina (; Wilhelmina Helena Pauline Maria; 31 August 1880 – 28 November 1962) was Queen of the Netherlands from 1890 until her abdication in 1948. She reigned for nearly 58 years, longer than any other Dutch monarch. Her reign saw World War I, the Dutch economic crisis of 1933 and World War II. The only child of King William III of the Netherlands and Emma of Waldeck and Pyrmont, Wilhelmina ascended to the throne at the age of 10 after her father's death in 1890, under her mother's regency. After taking charge of government, Wilhelmina became generally popular for maintaining Dutch neutrality during the First World War and solving many of her country's industrial problems. By that time, her business ventures had made her the world's first female billionaire in dollars. She went on to ensure that her family was one of seven European royal houses remaining in existence. Following the German invasion of the Netherlands in 1940, Wilhelmina fled to Britain and took charge of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wadden Sea
The Wadden Sea ( nl, Waddenzee ; german: Wattenmeer; nds, Wattensee or ; da, Vadehavet; fy, Waadsee, longname=yes; frr, di Heef) is an intertidal zone in the southeastern part of the North Sea. It lies between the coast of northwestern continental Europe and the range of low-lying Frisian Islands, forming a shallow body of water with tidal flats and wetlands. It has a high biological diversity and is an important area for both breeding and migrating birds. In 2009, the Dutch and German parts of the Wadden Sea were inscribed on UNESCO's World Heritage List and the Danish part was added in June 2014. The Wadden Sea stretches from Den Helder, in the northwest of the Netherlands, past the great river estuaries of Germany to its northern boundary at Skallingen in Denmark along a total coastline of some and a total area of about . Within the Netherlands, it is bounded from the IJsselmeer by the Afsluitdijk. Historically, the coastal regions were often subjected to large floods, r ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
IJssel
The IJssel (; nds-nl, Iessel(t) ) is a Dutch distributary of the river Rhine that flows northward and ultimately discharges into the IJsselmeer (before the 1932 completion of the Afsluitdijk known as the Zuiderzee), a North Sea natural harbour. It more immediately flows into the east-south channel around the Flevopolder, Flevoland which is kept at 3 metres below sea level. This body of water is then pumped up into the IJsselmeer. It is sometimes called the Gelderse IJssel (; "Gueldern IJssel") to distinguish it from the Hollandse IJssel. It is in the provinces of Gelderland and Overijssel. The Romans knew the river as Isala. It flows from Westervoort, on the east side of the city of Arnhem. Similar to the Nederrijn which shares its short inflow, the Pannerdens Kanaal, it is a minor discharge of the Rhine. At the fork where the Kanaal is sourced the Rhine becomes named the Waal. This splitting-off is west of the German border. The Waal in turn interweaves with other rivers ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
IJsselmeer
The IJsselmeer (; fy, Iselmar, nds-nl, Iesselmeer), also known as Lake IJssel in English, is a closed off inland bay in the central Netherlands bordering the provinces of Flevoland, North Holland and Friesland. It covers an area of with an average depth of . The river IJssel flows into the IJsselmeer. History Two thousand years ago Pomponius Mela, a Roman geographer, mentioned a complex of lakes at the current location of the IJsselmeer. He called it ''Lacus Flevo''. Over the centuries, the lake banks crumbled away due to flooding and wave action and the lake, now called the Almere, grew considerably. During the 12th and 13th centuries, storm surges and rising sea levels flooded large areas of land between the lake and the North Sea, turning the lake into a bay of the North Sea, called the Zuiderzee. The Zuiderzee continued to be a threat to the Dutch, especially when northwesterly storms funnel North Sea waters towards the English Channel, creating very high tides along ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
