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The ''Afsluitdijk'' (; fry, Ofslútdyk; nds-nl, Ofsluutdiek; en, "Closure Dyke") is a major
dam A dam is a barrier that stops or restricts the flow of surface water or underground streams. Reservoirs created by dams not only suppress floods but also provide water for activities such as irrigation, human consumption, industrial use ...
and
causeway A causeway is a track, road or railway on the upper point of an embankment across "a low, or wet place, or piece of water". It can be constructed of earth, masonry, wood, or concrete. One of the earliest known wooden causeways is the Sweet Tra ...
in the
Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
. It was constructed between 1927 and 1932 and runs from
Den Oever Den Oever (; in English, the ''shore, the coast'') is a village in the Dutch province of North Holland. It is a part of the municipality of Hollands Kroon, and lies about east of Den Helder. Overview The village was first mentioned in 1432 as " ...
in
North Holland North Holland ( nl, Noord-Holland, ) is a province of the Netherlands in the northwestern part of the country. It is located on the North Sea, north of South Holland and Utrecht, and west of Friesland and Flevoland. In November 2019, it had a ...
province to the village of Zurich in
Friesland Friesland (, ; official fry, Fryslân ), historically and traditionally known as Frisia, is a province of the Netherlands located in the country's northern part. It is situated west of Groningen, northwest of Drenthe and Overijssel, north of ...
province, over a length of and a width of , at an initial height of above
sea level Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical datuma standardised g ...
. The ''Afsluitdijk'' is a fundamental part of the larger
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 proje ...
, damming off the
Zuiderzee 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 o ...
, a salt water inlet of the
North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian S ...
, and turning it into the fresh water lake of the
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 a ...
. 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 Speed limits on road traffic, as used in most countries, set the legal maximum speed at which vehicles may travel on a given stretch of road. Speed limits are generally indicated on a traffic sign reflecting the maximum permitted speed - expres ...
in the Netherlands.


History


Reasons for construction

The Afsluitdijk (literally translated: shut-off-dyke) was completed in 1932, thereby shutting off the
Zuiderzee 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 o ...
(lit: Southern Sea) from the
North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian S ...
. Until then, the Zuiderzee had been a large bay south of the North Sea which gave maritime access to five provinces of The Netherlands, and particularly during the
Dutch Golden Age The Dutch Golden Age ( nl, Gouden Eeuw ) was a period in the history of the Netherlands, roughly spanning the era from 1588 (the birth of the Dutch Republic) to 1672 (the Rampjaar, "Disaster Year"), in which Dutch trade, science, and Dutch art, ...
provided a protected entrance and exit for the harbour of
Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...
and several other important Dutch sea harbours. Furthermore, the Zuiderzee provided relatively shallow and calm fishing grounds for the many towns bordering the bay. However, the opening of the
North Sea Canal The North Sea Canal ( nl, Noordzeekanaal) is a Dutch ship canal from Amsterdam to the North Sea at IJmuiden, constructed between 1865 and 1876 to enable seafaring vessels to reach the port of Amsterdam. This man-made channel terminates at Amster ...
(Noordzeekanaal) in 1876 gave a much shorter direct entrance to the Amsterdam harbour, and overfishing had depleted the shallow bay. In the second half of the 19th century, the Dutch population was exploding, and there was an increasing need for land for agriculture and animal husbandry. The Dutch already had centuries of experience of building dykes around lakes, emptying them and converting them to fertile
polder A polder () is a low-lying tract of land that forms an artificial hydrological entity, enclosed by embankments known as dikes. The three types of polder are: # Land reclaimed from a body of water, such as a lake or the seabed # Flood plains s ...
land. The next large project was to convert the Zuiderzee into polder. In 1886, a few notables established the Zuiderzee Society to investigate whether reclamation was feasible. One of the most prominent members of the society was
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 – desi ...
, a
civil engineer A civil engineer is a person who practices civil engineering – the application of planning, designing, constructing, maintaining, and operating infrastructure while protecting the public and environmental health, as well as improving existing ...
, prominent member and later chairman of the society. In 1891 he designed the first plan for the closure and reclamation of the Zuiderzee. In 1913, Lely was Minister of Water Management, and land reclamation was included in the government program. His plan was initially opposed, particularly for its huge costs and also by the fishing industry. But after the
flood of 1916 The flood of 1916 or Zuiderzeevloed of 1916 is a flood that took place in the night between 13 and 14 January 1916 in the Netherlands along the dikes of the Zuiderzee as a result of a storm surge. Course The flood coincided with a high water inf ...
and the famine of 1918, opinions were ready for this mega project and the parliament agreed, but it took another 9 years, until 1927, before the works actually began.


Building the dyke

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 ...
was connected to the mainland with the short
Amsteldiepdijk Amsteldiepdijk is a dike between Van Ewijcksluis and the island of Wieringen. It was built in 1924 and closes a portion of the Amsteldiep and of the Ulkediep. It is often considered to be the first work of engineering of the Zuiderzee works. Wi ...
in 1925; the ' would be in length. The inland side is heavy stone; the seaward side is
boulder clay Boulder clay is an unsorted agglomeration of clastic sediment that is unstratified and structureless and contains gravel of various sizes, shapes, and compositions distributed at random in a fine-grained matrix. The fine-grained matrix consists o ...
with
brushwood Brushwood can mean: * ''Melaleuca uncinata'' or Broombrush * Brushwood, New South Wales, a rural community in the central east part of the Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia * Brian Brushwood Brian Allen Brushwood (born January 17, ...
mattresses A mattress is a large, usually rectangular pad for supporting a lying person. It is designed to be used as a bed, or on a bed frame as part of a bed. Mattresses may consist of a quilted or similarly fastened case, usually of heavy cloth, contain ...
above, weighed down by
basalt Basalt (; ) is an aphanite, aphanitic (fine-grained) extrusive igneous rock formed from the rapid cooling of low-viscosity lava rich in magnesium and iron (mafic lava) exposed at or very near the planetary surface, surface of a terrestrial ...
boulders and old concrete. Previous experience had showed that boulder clay was superior to just sand or clay for a structure like the ''Afsluitdijk'', with the added benefit that
till image:Geschiebemergel.JPG, Closeup of glacial till. Note that the larger grains (pebbles and gravel) in the till are completely surrounded by the matrix of finer material (silt and sand), and this characteristic, known as ''matrix support'', is d ...
was in plentiful supply in the area; it could be retrieved in large quantities by simply
dredging Dredging is the excavation of material from a water environment. Possible reasons for dredging include improving existing water features; reshaping land and water features to alter drainage, navigability, and commercial use; constructing da ...
it from the bottom of the Zuiderzee. Work started at four points: on both sides of the mainland and on two specially made construction-islands (
Kornwerderzand Kornwerderzand ( West Frisian: Koarnwertersân) is a village on the Afsluitdijk, a major dam in the Netherlands that links Friesland with North Holland. Overview Kornwerderzand is located approximately 4 kilometers from the coast of Friesland, on ...
and
Breezanddijk Breezanddijk ( fry, Breesândyk) is a small community that lies near the midpoint of the Afsluitdijk, part of the A7 motorway, in the Netherlands. It is located on a former artificial island which was created during the construction of the dam, a ...
) along the line of the future dyke. From these points, the dyke slowly grew by ships depositing till into the open sea until it breached the surface. The nascent dyke was then strengthened from land by basalt rocks and mats of willow switch at its base. The dyke could then be finished off by raising it further with sand and finally clay for the surface of the dyke, on which grass was planted. As the dyke grew, physicist
Hendrik Antoon Lorentz Hendrik Antoon Lorentz (; 18 July 1853 – 4 February 1928) was a Dutch physicist who shared the 1902 Nobel Prize in Physics with Pieter Zeeman for the discovery and theoretical explanation of the Zeeman effect. He also derived the Lorentz t ...
calculated the force of the tide as the smaller gap made it stronger. Ten thousand workers, 27 large dredges, 13 floating cranes, 132 barges, and 88 tugs worked on the project at the end, timed to close the dyke at low tide; it was finished on 28 May 1932. Construction progressed better than expected; at three points along the line of the dyke there were deeper underwater trenches where the tidal current was much stronger than elsewhere. These had been considered to be major obstacles to completing the dyke, but all of them proved to be relatively straightforward. Two years earlier than initially thought, the Zuiderzee ceased to be, as the last tidal trench, the ''Vlieter'', was closed by a final bucket of till. The IJsselmeer was born, even though it was still salty at the time. The dyke itself however was not finished yet as it still needed to be brought up to its required height and a road linking Friesland and North Holland (the current A7/ E22
motorway A controlled-access highway is a type of highway that has been designed for high-speed vehicular traffic, with all traffic flow—ingress and egress—regulated. Common English terms are freeway, motorway and expressway. Other similar terms i ...
) also remained to be built. On 25 September 1933, the ''Afsluitdijk'' was officially opened, with a monument designed by architect Dudok marking the spot where the dyke had been closed. The amount of material used is estimated at of sand and of till and over the years an average of around four to five thousand workers were involved with the construction every day, relieving some of the unemployment following the
Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...
. Beside the dyke itself, there was also the necessary construction of two complexes of shipping
locks Lock(s) may refer to: Common meanings *Lock and key, a mechanical device used to secure items of importance *Lock (water navigation), a device for boats to transit between different levels of water, as in a canal Arts and entertainment * ''Lock ...
and discharge
sluice Sluice ( ) is a word for a channel controlled at its head by a movable gate which is called a sluice gate. A sluice gate is traditionally a wood or metal barrier sliding in grooves that are set in the sides of the waterway and can be considered ...
s at both ends of the dyke. The complex at Den Oever includes the ''Stevin'' lock (named after
mathematician A mathematician is someone who uses an extensive knowledge of mathematics in their work, typically to solve mathematical problems. Mathematicians are concerned with numbers, data, quantity, structure, space, models, and change. History On ...
and
engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the l ...
Simon Stevin Simon Stevin (; 1548–1620), sometimes called Stevinus, was a Flemish mathematician, scientist and music theorist. He made various contributions in many areas of science and engineering, both theoretical and practical. He also translated vario ...
) and three series of five sluices for discharging the IJsselmeer into the
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 conti ...
; the other complex at Kornwerderzand is composed of the ''Lorentz'' locks (named after the physicist) and two series of five sluices, making a total of 25 discharge sluices. It is necessary to routinely discharge water from the lake since it is continually fed by rivers and streams (most notably the
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 ...
river that gives its name to the lake) and
polders A polder () is a low-lying tract of land that forms an artificial hydrological entity, enclosed by embankments known as dikes. The three types of polder are: # Land reclaimed from a body of water, such as a lake or the seabed # Flood plains s ...
draining their water into the IJsselmeer. On 23 September 1954, on the centenary of Cornelis Lely, a statue, made by
Mari Andriessen Mari Silverster Andriessen (4 December 1897 – 7 December 1979) was a Dutch sculptor, best known for his work memorializing victims of the Holocaust. Born and died in Haarlem, Andriessen is buried at the RK Begraafplaats Sint Adelberts in B ...
, was unveiled by Queen Juliana on the North Holland side of the Afsluitdijk. On May 9, 2007, the statue was relocated near to the Vlieter Monument. The official unveiling, on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the dyke, was performed on 24 May 2007 by Prince Willem-Alexander. In 2012, the State Secretary for Infrastructure and the Environment,
Joop Atsma Johannes Jan "Joop" Atsma (born 6 July 1956) is a Dutch politician of the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) party and sport administrator. He has been a Senate (Netherlands), Member of the Senate since 9 June 2015. Biography Joop Atsma is the so ...
, issued a statement detailing the factors influencing the decision to replace the locks at Kornwerderzand. A
naviduct A naviduct is a special class of navigable aqueduct, in which the waterway also includes a lock. One example of a naviduct has been built at Enkhuizen on the Houtribdijk in the Netherlands on the instructions of the Rijkswaterstaat. This cost ove ...
would have a high construction cost compared with standard locks and bridges, but would benefit the economy by reducing delays. After the
cost–benefit analysis Cost–benefit analysis (CBA), sometimes also called benefit–cost analysis, is a systematic approach to estimating the strengths and weaknesses of alternatives. It is used to determine options which provide the best approach to achieving benefits ...
of all potential solutions was considered, a decision was made to strengthen the existing locks. However, it is quite possible that a naviduct will be built to replace the locks when they reach the end of their useful life in 2050. The work started in April 2020 and is planned to take three years; during the work, the highway remains in operation, however the bicycle path is closed. Provision for a
railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...
line linking North Holland and Friesland (between
Anna Paulowna Anna Paulowna () is a former municipality and a town in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. The former municipality derives its name from the Anna Paulownapolder, which was laid dry in 1846 during the reign of King William II of ...
and Harlingen) had been included on the ''Afsluitdijk'', in the form of a linear reservation, along with extra drawbridge abutments at the locks. However, construction of the line was never undertaken by the Dutch track operator (
ProRail ProRail () is a Dutch government organisation responsible for the maintenance and extension of the national railway network infrastructure (not the metro or tram), the allocation of rail capacity, and controlling rail traffic. Prorail is a part o ...
), for reasons of cost and relative lack of benefits. The reservation and abutments for the rail line were utilized instead for a second carriageway for the dyke's two-lane highway in the 1970s, transforming the latter into today's four-lane A7 motorway. On 12 and 13 May 1940 it was the site of the
Battle of the Afsluitdijk The Battle of the Afsluitdijk of 12–14 May 1940 was an unsuccessful attempt by German ''Wehrmacht'' forces to seize the Afsluitdijk during the invasion of the Netherlands. German invasion plans called for a simultaneous attack on Vesting Hol ...
.


Icoon Afsluitdijk

Rijkswaterstaat Rijkswaterstaat, founded in 1798 as the ''Bureau voor den Waterstaat'' and formerly translated to Directorate General for Public Works and Water Management, is a Directorate-General of the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management of the Net ...
will strengthen the Afsluitdijk in the coming years to safeguard its future and to continue to protect the Netherlands against the force of water. Its renovation began in 2018. The government has taken this opportunity to give room to more initiatives. As part of the renovation programme, Roosegaarde's Icoon Afsluitdijk enhances the iconic status of the Afsluitdijk with a second layer of light and interaction. The three designs of light and interaction developed by
Daan Roosegaarde Daan Roosegaarde (born 1979) is a Dutch artist, pioneer and founder of ''Studio Roosegaarde'', which develops projects that merge technology and art in urban environments. Some of the studio's works have been described as "immersive" and "intera ...
and his team are entitled Gates of Light, Windvogel and Glowing Nature. Development Partners for this project are:
Kitepower Kitepower is a registered trademark of the Dutch company Enevate B.V. developing mobile airborne wind power systems. Kitepower was founded in 2016 by Johannes Peschel and Roland Schmehl as a university spin-off from the Delft University of Techno ...
,
Wageningen University and Research Wageningen University & Research (also known as Wageningen UR; abbreviation: WUR) is a public university in Wageningen, Netherlands, specializing in life sciences with a focus on agriculture, technical and engineering subjects. It is a globally ...
, TTB, Eurocarbon, Versalume.


Gates of Light

Gates of Light is a futuristic entrance at both sides of the dyke. Inspired by retroreflective wings of butterflies, Daan Roosegaarde brings a new light on the 60 monumental floodgates which were designed by
Dirk Roosenburg Dirk Roosenburg (June 6, 1887 – October 22, 1962) was a Dutch architect and designer. Early years His father Dirk Leonard Roosenburg was a doctor, his mother Selinde came from the entrepreneurial family Fentener van Vlissingen . Dirk Roose ...
in 1932, the grandfather of the Dutch architect
Rem Koolhaas Remment Lucas Koolhaas (; born 17 November 1944) is a Dutch architect, architectural theorist, urbanist and Professor in Practice of Architecture and Urban Design at the Graduate School of Design at Harvard University. He is often cited as a re ...
. They have been restored with a retroreflective layer which is illuminated by the passing cars' headlamps.


Windvogel

Windvogel is a tribute to the Dutch astronaut
Wubbo Ockels Wubbo Johannes Ockels (28 March 1946 – 18 May 2014) was a Dutch physicist and astronaut with the European Space Agency who, in 1985, became the first Dutch citizen in space when he flew on STS-61-A as a payload specialist. He later becam ...
. Ockels had the dream to realise smart kites which generate power by having them stay aloft for long periods of time. He was one of the pioneers in the field of kite power generation and professor of the research group at Delft University of Technology from which the startup
Kitepower Kitepower is a registered trademark of the Dutch company Enevate B.V. developing mobile airborne wind power systems. Kitepower was founded in 2016 by Johannes Peschel and Roland Schmehl as a university spin-off from the Delft University of Techno ...
arose. Each of the Windvogel kites generates from 20 to 100 kW which can supply energy for up to 200 households.


Glowing Nature

Glowing Nature shows the beauty of nature on the Afsluitdijk by means of an encounter between man, biology and technology. The exhibition, located in one of the historical bunkers, provides an interactive experience with live algae, one of the oldest microorganisms in the world. Only when you perfectly maintain and take care of these algae do they give natural light for an extended period of time.


See also

*
Zuiderzee Museum The Zuiderzee Museum, located on Wierdijk in the historic center of Enkhuizen, is a Dutch museum devoted to preserving the cultural heritage and maritime history from the old Zuiderzee region. With the closing of the Afsluitdijk (Barrier Dam) on M ...


References


External links



* 'Tim Travel'
''Why the Dutch built a motorway through the sea''
(
YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...
) {{Authority control Dikes in the Netherlands Dams in the Netherlands Roads in the Netherlands Causeways in Europe Zuiderzee Works Buildings and structures in Friesland Buildings and structures in North Holland Transport in Friesland Transport in North Holland Hollands Kroon Súdwest-Fryslân Articles containing video clips