Maeslant Barrier (Deltaworks/Europort 1997) - Virtual Tour of Dutch History (sitios de interés)
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| In the North Sea flood of 1953, breaks in the dikes and seawalls in the Netherlands killed 1,835 people and forced the evacuation of 70,000 more. 10,000 animals drowned, and 4,500 buildings were destroyed. To prevent such a tragedy from happening again, an ambitious flood defense system was conceived and deployed, called the Delta Works (Dutch: Deltawerken).The Dutch government often cites the Delta Works project as the world's largest flood protection project. With over 10,250 miles of levees (1,500 miles designated as primary levees and 8,750 miles as secondary levees) and 300 structures, the project is one of the most extensive engineering projects in the world. The project isolated 13 estuaries from the ocean. Approximately 1,650 sq. km. of land were reclaimed from the sea by the project.This project was intended to improve the safety of the lower areas of the Netherlands against severe storms and flooding; since more than one third of the nation's land lies below sea level, this is no simple task. Dunes along the entire seashore were raised by as much as 5 metres, while the islands in Zeeland province were joined together by dams and other large scale constructions to shorten the coastline. The most sophisticated and famous of these dams is the Oosterscheldekering (left of the leftmost "i" on the satellite image), which can be opened and closed to keep the sea at bay while preserving the saltwater river delta for wildlife and the fishing industry. Less known, but no less impressive, is the Maeslantkering storm surge barrier near the port of Rotterdam Name |  360 pictures |