Schielands Hoge Zeedijk, formerly called ''Hoogendijk'' ("high dike") is a Dutch dike in the province of South Holland that stretches from the

Schie Schie () the name for four waterways in the area of Overschie, South Holland, the Netherlands. There are the Delftse Schie, the Delfshavense Schie, the Rotterdamse Schie and the Schiedamse Schie. The existence of these four streams is the result ...

at Schiedam to the

Gouwe Gouwe is a hamlet in the Dutch province of North Holland. It is a part of the municipality of Opmeer Opmeer (; West Frisian: ''Opmar'' or ''Obmar'') is a municipality and town in the Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , ...

near Gouda. Constructed in the 13th century, the dike continues to protect an area inhabited by 3 million people from flooding by the

North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea, epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the ...

History

Memorial Watersnoodramp 1953 Hollandse IJssel 02

Schielands Hoge Zeedijk was constructed in the 13th century by order of Adelaide of Holland, a noblewoman who was regent of Holland while her nephew,

Floris V, Count of Holland Floris V (24 June 1254 – 27 June 1296) reigned as Count of Holland and Zeeland from 1256 until 1296. His life was documented in detail in the Rijmkroniek by Melis Stoke, his chronicler. He is credited with a mostly peaceful reign, moderni ...

, was a minor. The Schielands Hoge Zeedijk never really collapsed, though the All Saints' Flood of 1570 indicated its weakness. In 1574 it was deliberately cut through in sixteen places during the

Siege of Leiden The siege of Leiden occurred during the Eighty Years' War and the Anglo–Spanish War in 1573 and 1574, when the Spanish under Francisco de Valdez attempted to capture the rebellious city of Leiden, South Holland, the Netherlands. The siege fai ...

. On 1 February 1953, during the North Sea Flood of 1953, the dike almost collapsed between

Capelle aan den IJssel Capelle aan den IJssel (; en, Capelle on the IJssel) is a small city and municipality in the western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland. The municipality had a population of in , and covers an area of , of which is water. It is situ ...

and

Nieuwerkerk aan den IJssel Nieuwerkerk aan den IJssel (; population: 22,344 in 2004) is a town and former municipality in the western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland. Since 2010 it is part of the new municipality of Zuidplas. It is situated along the Holl ...

; the hole was filled by sailing a ship into the dike, an event commemorated by the monument ''Dubbeltje op zijn kant'' ("dime on its edge", a Dutch proverb indicating a dramatic event nearly happened).

Current structure

The Hoogendijk near the centre of Capelle aan den IJssel

The Hoogendijk starts in Schiedam and routes via the city of Rotterdam towards the Oosthaven of the city of Gouda. It follows basically the Northern bank of the rivers

Nieuwe Maas The Nieuwe Maas (; "New Meuse") is a distributary of the Rhine River, and a former distributary of the Maas River, in the Dutch province of South Holland. It runs from the confluence of the rivers Noord and Lek, and flows west through Rotterd ...

and the

Hollandse IJssel The Hollandse (or Hollandsche) IJssel (; "Holland IJssel", as opposed to the 'regular' or Gelderland IJssel) is a branch of the Rhine delta that flows westward from Nieuwegein on river Lek through IJsselstein, Gouda and Capelle aan den IJsse ...

. Nowadays the dike ends at the Julianasluis near Gouda; from 1856 till 1936 the dike ended at an upstream lock called Waaiersluis. The old name of the dike is De Hoogendijk or De Hooge(n) Zeedijk (''The High Sea Dike''). The Hoogendijk is maintained by ' the Hoogheemraadschap van Schieland en de Krimpenerwaard' and classified as a primary waterbarrier. The total length of the dike is 27 kilometres.Overview of dikes in the Western part of The Netherland (https://www.schielandendekrimpenerwaard.nl/kaart/dijken/)

Schiedam

*Rotterdamsedijk

Rotterdam

*Rotterdamsedijk (officially: Schiedamseweg) · Mathenesserdijk · Havenstraat · Westzeedijk (tot Parksluizen oorspronkelijk tracé zuidkant Heiman Dullaertplein · Pieter de Hoochstraat) · Vasteland · Schiedamsedijk · Korte Hoogstraat · Hoogstraat · Oostzeedijk · Honingerdijk · Nesserdijk · Schaardijk

Capelle aan den IJssel

*IJsseldijk/Nijverheidsstraat · Ketensedijk · Dorpsstraat · Groenedijk

Zuidplas

*Groenendijk · Kortenoord · Schielandse Hoge Zeedijk-West · Westeinde · Dorpsstraat · Oosteinde · Schielandse Hoge Zeedijk-Oost

Gouda

*Sluisdijk · Schielands Hoge Zeedijk

References

{{coord, 52.0200, N, 4.6700, E, source:wikidata, display=title Dikes in the Netherlands Buildings and structures in South Holland