Houthaven is a neighbourhood of

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population of 907,976 within the city proper, 1,558,755 in the urban ar ...

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 ...

situated in the

West West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some ...

borough. Literally meaning "

lumber Lumber is wood that has been processed into dimensional lumber, including beams and planks or boards, a stage in the process of wood production. Lumber is mainly used for construction framing, as well as finishing (floors, wall panels, wi ...

port A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as H ...

", Houthaven is a port situated along the IJ in Amsterdam's

western port Western Port, ( Boonwurrung: ''Warn Marin'') commonly but unofficially known as Western Port Bay, is a large tidal bay in southern Victoria, Australia, opening into Bass Strait. It is the second largest bay in the state. Geographically, it is ...

. It is bordered by a dam in the IJ river to the north and the

Spaarndammerbuurt Spaarndammerbuurt is a neighborhood of Amsterdam, Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_ti ...

in the south. It is currently predominantly used by inland barges, however plans are in motion to radically change the area in the next few years by building a new residential area on seven

artificial island An artificial island is an island that has been constructed by people rather than formed by natural means. Artificial islands may vary in size from small islets reclaimed solely to support a single pillar of a building or structure to those th ...

s. The harbour is made up out of four parts (from east to west): Oude Houthaven (Old Lumber Port), Houthaven, Nieuwe Houthaven (New Lumber Port) and Minervahaven (Minerva Port). This is why the Houthaven is also referred to as the Houthavens (which is the plural).

History

The Houthaven was dug out in 1876, together with 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 ...

. It was the first port in Amsterdam to be dug out (the earlier ones using existing waters). Its purpose was to

tranship Transshipment, trans-shipment or transhipment is the shipment of goods or containers to an intermediate destination, then to another destination. One possible reason for transshipment is to change the means of transport during the journey (e.g ...

and store lumber. As lumber was increasingly transported by road, parts of the port were filled up with sand to be used for other purposes in 1945. The Minervahaven remained in use for lumber transhipment and

wood processing Wood processing is an engineering discipline in the wood industry comprising the production of forest products, such as pulp and paper, construction materials, and tall oil. Paper engineering is a subfield of wood processing. The major wood pro ...

industry was located there but port-related activities decreased strongly over time. The area is currently being redeveloped.

References

Amsterdam-West Neighbourhoods of Amsterdam

Houthaven Houthaven is a neighbourhood of Amsterdam, Netherlands situated in the West borough. Literally meaning "lumber port", Houthaven is a port situated along the IJ in Amsterdam's western port. It is bordered by a dam in the IJ river to the north and t ...

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