The ''Plofsluis'' () or Keersluis bij Jutphaas (''Control lock near Jutphaas'') is a

control lock A control lock, guard lock or stop lock differs from a normal canal lock in that its primary purpose is controlling variances in water level rather than raising or lowering vessels. A control lock may also be known as a tide lock where it is used ...

in the Netherlands. It lies in the Amsterdam–Rhine Canal, between

Nieuwegein Nieuwegein () is a municipality and city in the Dutch province of Utrecht. It is bordered on the north by the city of Utrecht, the provincial capital. It is separated from Vianen to the south by the river Lek and borders on IJsselstein in the ...

and

Houten Houten () is a municipality in the Netherlands, in the province of Utrecht. Population centres The municipality consists of the following towns: * 't Goy * Houten * Schalkwijk * Tull en 't Waal Houten (town) The main town in the municipality i ...

, southeast of Fort Jutphaas. As part of the

New Dutch Waterline The Dutch Waterline (; modern spelling: ''Hollandse Waterlinie'') was a series of water-based defences conceived by Maurice of Nassau, Prince of Orange, Maurice of Nassau in the early 17th century, and realised by his half brother Frederick Henry, ...

, it was constructed to quickly dam the canal, so water from the

flood A flood is an overflow of water (list of non-water floods, or rarely other fluids) that submerges land that is usually dry. In the sense of "flowing water", the word may also be applied to the inflow of the tide. Floods are of significant con ...

ed surroundings would not flow away through the canal. To achieve this, 40 million kilos of rocks and rubble was held in five spaces meters above the water, which would collapse with explosives. The plofsluis has never been used.

History

Building of the lock started in 1937, three years after work started on the Amsterdam-Rhine canal. Two pumping stations were also planned on both sides of the lock, so they could still influence the flow of water, but this was never finished due to the start of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

in 1940. The lock was finished in 1942 by the German occupiers. The lock became too small for the increasingly large inland shipping vessels. Demolition of the lock was too expensive, so instead the canal was widened in 1981 so ships could go around. The southern battery along the Overeindseweg was demolished for this. The spaces above the lock, which previously held the rocks and rubble, is temporarily used as storage of polluted soil. Since 2015, there is a cyclist bridge along the lock.

References

{{Reflist Locks of the Netherlands Dutch Water Defence Lines Rijksmonuments in Utrecht (province)