HOLLAND: Afsluitdijk / Enclosure Dam [HD]

The Afsluitdijk (English: Enclosure Dam) is a major causeway in the Netherlands. It is damming off the Waddenzee, a salt water inlet of the North Sea, from the fresh water lake of the IJsselmeer.

It was constructed between 1927 and 1933 and runs over a length of 32 kilometres (20 miles) and a width of 90 m, at an initial height of 7.25 m above sea-level.

The Afsluitdijk is a fundamental part of the larger Zuiderzee Works, a manmade system of dams, land reclamation and water drainage works, the largest hydraulic engineering project undertaken by the Netherlands during the twentieth century. Its main purposes are to improve flood protection and create additional land for agriculture.

Beside the dam itself is also the necessary construction of two complexes of shipping locks and discharge sluices at both ends of the dike. The complex at Den Oever includes the Stevin lock and 3 series of 5 sluices for discharging the IJsselmeer into the Wadden Sea. The other complex at Kornwerderzand is composed of the Lorentz locks and 2 series of 5 sluices. In total there are 25 discharge sluices. It is necessary to routinely discharge water from the lake since it is continually fed by rivers and stream and polders draining their water into the IJsselmeer.

The Afsluitdijk was Holland's first 130 kph road (1st of March 2011).

March 9, 2014

Видео HOLLAND: Afsluitdijk / Enclosure Dam [HD] канала Stuart's TRAVEL VIDEOS