Delta Works - Oosterscheldekering- Westenschouwen/Kamperland (NL)
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Axel-F
N 51° 36.535 E 003° 41.014
31U E 547335 N 5717763
The largest of the thirteen ambitious Delta Works series of dams and storm surge barriers, designed to protect the Netherlands from flooding from the North Sea.
Waymark Code: WM11NQA
Location: Zeeland, Netherlands
Date Posted: 11/22/2019
Views: 40
The Delta Works (Dutch: Deltawerken) is a series of construction projects in the southwest of the Netherlands to protect a large area of land around the Rhine-Meuse-Scheldt delta from the sea. The works consist of dams, sluices, locks, dykes, levees, and storm surge barriers located in the provinces of South Holland and Zeeland.
The aim of the dams, sluices, and storm surge barriers was to shorten the Dutch coastline, thus reducing the number of dikes that had to be raised. Along with the Zuiderzee Works, the Delta Works have been declared one of the Seven Wonders of the Modern World by the American Society of Civil Engineers.
The Oosterscheldekering
The longest dam in the Delta Works, the nine-kilometer-long Oosterscheldekering (kering meaning barrier) was initially designed, and partly built, as a closed dam, but after public protests, huge sluice-gate-type doors were installed in the remaining four kilometers. These doors are normally open, but can be closed under adverse weather conditions. In this way, the saltwater marine life behind the dam is preserved and fishing can continue, while the land behind the dam is safe from the water.
On 4 October 1986, Queen Beatrix officially opened the dam for use by saying the well-known words: "De stormvloedkering is gesloten. De Deltawerken zijn voltooid. Zeeland is veilig." (The flood barrier is closed. The Delta Works are completed. Zeeland is safe.)
At the artificial island Neeltje-Jans, at one end of the barrier, a plaque is installed with the words: "Hier gaan over het tij, de wind, de maan en wij" ("Here the tide is ruled by the wind, the moon and us (the Dutch)").
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