• •
Hydr ulic
Man-made lowlands
, .i
The flood protection stru
The pumping devices
Mechanical pumping after
New materials
Sounding and measuring
Soil mechanics
Hydraulic laboratory research
Tidal computations and coast an
"the construction of closure damt
g,ne r ng
During the nineteenth and twentieth centuries the technical
and scientific know-how ofdealing with water went through
_,. a great development. Many people even had the opinion that
with this new science, hydraulic engineering, water in the
Netherlands could be completely controlled. The develop­
ment ofhydraulic engineering was not in isolation. It has to
be seen against the background ofthe progress oftechnique
and science since 1800.
In hydraulic engineering the nineteenth century was also
the period ofsteam and steel. This expressed itselfnot only
in the innovation ofpumping, but also in the strong mecha­
nisation of earth excavation and transport. Although many
projects, like the Noordzeekanaal, were still carried out by
thousands ofworkers with classical tools like spades and
barrows, during the construction ofthe Nieuwe Merwede
and the Nieuwe Waterweg bucket dredgers and suction
dredgers were indispensable. All natural sciences were based
on accurate measurements and observations, and also in
hydraulic engineering the behaviour ofsea c_grrents and
rivers was recorded and mapped.
In the twentieth century the developments continued. The
mechanisation ofearth excavation and transport was further
perfectioned by using small trains with tilt-carts, trucks,
draglines and bulldozers. Also, special digging machines were
developed to dig watercourses. For the maintenance of these
watercourses special achines were invented which could
clean up the bank ofa watercourse, and then there came
special mowing boats to remove abundant vegetation from
the aquatic soils.
For the construction ofhydraulic structures it was very im­
portant that new materials were introduced, like steel sheet­
piling and concrete. However, the most important develop­
ment was the increase ofknow-how by the increased scien­
tific approach to technique. This progress made complicated
,d;
operations possible, like the closure ofthe esturaries in the
southwestern part ofthe Netherlands.
The flood protection structures
To protect the Netherlands against flooding a wide variety
ofmeasures has been taken. Hundreds ofkilometres ofdikes
and low embankments have been constructed, maintained
and improved. There are dikes along the sea and the great
rivers, and low embankments along the many inland waters,
like the collection and transport systems, drainage canals and
small rivers in Hoog-Nederland. Also the beaches and dunes
were protected against further erosion by means ofbeach
groynes. In the vulnerable dunes sand dikes were construc­
ted, which were planted with marram.
The sea dikes
In the nineteenth century the systematic approach to dike
design was quite distincc In all manuals and textbooks fairly
comprehensive reviews were given ofthe considerations that
played a role in determining the cross-section and the method
ofexecution. Theoretical discourses were ofminor import­
ance, the designers went by experience.
Clay was strongly recommended as the type of soil to be
used for the dike body. It was transported by carts and
dumped in 35 to 40 centimetre thick layers, crushed and
tamped down by horses. This method persisted until well
into the twentieth century. Ifinsufficient clay was available,
sandy soil was an alternative, but it had to be covered by a
layer ofclay at least one metre thick and as far removed as
possible from those places in the vertical cross-section profiles
that had to withstand the strongest wave attacks. Clay was
preferred mainly because it has a cohesive structure and is
Hydraulic engineering 255
fairly impermeable. Peaty soil is quite unsuitable for dike
construction.
All guidelines for determining the dike profile started with
the crest height. Taking into account some extra for wave run
up, the height was 1 to 1.75 metres above the highest known
outer slope was provided by a thick cover of grass, if possible .____ Profile of the dike along the former Zuiderzee in the province of
by laying sods. After two or three years the dikes could be used Overijssel. During the strengthening of this dike in the nineteenth century
for grazing, but only by small stock, such as sheep. Horses the traditional dimensions were
and cows would trample the grass cover. maintained. Large-backed
sm
Where the dike was in regular contact with the saline sea bricks of 42 by 42 centimetres
,'l-

storm surge level. The wave run up was directly connected water at high tide a good grass cover could not develop. So with a thickness of 20 centi­ fore land

with the width of the foreland and the orientation of the dike here another slope protection had to be applied. This was metres protected the dike
overflow in relation to the prevailing wind direction during done with a pitched slope. If there was a danger of a stronger toe at the outside. During a
storm surges. If the latter turned out to be a disadvantageous wave attack, then a pitched slope was preferred to a grass normal high tide, the water D dike body
�
rubble � pitching

factor, a foreland with a width of 300 to 375 metres was pre­ cover, also for the upper part of the dike. did not reach the dike toe.
ferred, if the wind direction was favourable, 150 to 200 metres A stone facing was built up successively from a bed of straw,
would suffice. For the crest height, therefore, for the various a layer of brick, and 16 to 20 centimetres of rubble with 30 to

--
parts of the Dutch coast different guidelines were drawn up. 40 centimetres of slope stone, sometimes even more, on top.

Taking subsidence into account for a new or a heightened
dike an additional height of 10 to 14 percent was applied.
The recommended crest width was at least three metres and
ifit carried a road it should be five to six metres. Opinions
varied with regard to the advantages and disadvantages of
roadway paving on the dike crest. The major advantage was
that, even if flooded, transpott to and from the area remained
possible; the major disadvantage was that it was difficult to
In Zeeland, Doornik or Vilvoorde stone was used for the slope,
in the north of the Netherlands, predominantly basalt from ]' Example of stone slopes.
Scandinavia was used. Apart from natural stone, brick could
also be applied in places that would not have to endure heavy
wave attacks. In Overijssel, the departmental engineer J.E.
Wildeman used specially fired bricks to make slopes in the
period 18u-1813; these were 42 x 42 centimetres in size and
20 centimetres thick, weighing 61 kg each. This example was

heighten a dike to compensate for settlement. copied later on. Vilvoorde pitching Doornik pitching

The outer slope was 1:3 to 1:5, sometimes even less steep. For places that had to withstand the heaviest attacks, natural
The shape of the surface was somewhat convex, occasionally stone remained the superior material, such as Vilvoorde stone
parabolic, to break the waves adequately. Protection of the on a gentle slope of, for example, 1:6. Later on German basaltic

------
dike body

fip overlay (clay)

With the help of a
water-weed cutter excessive strawmat and layer of bricks

vegetation is removed from rubble layer

banks of watercourses.
natural stone

basalt pitching

The strengthening of the dikes along the Volkerak in Noord-Brabant

in 1961-1962. After the storm surge of 1953, in anticipation of the completion
of the Delta project, the dikes along the coastal inlets were strengthened.
For these dikes modern techniques were applied. A part of the inner slope was
dug out. Thereafter the dike was heightened with sand from the Volkerak.
This was extracted with suction old dike

dredgers and thereafter it was ----�

transported to the dike via
pressure pipelines. Finally, the
sand was again covered with a new dike ditch old dike ditch

clay layer.

256 Man-made lowlands Hydraulic engineering 257

,.
columns became more common . As far as the specific weight
is concerned the German basalt block was the heaviest stone,
which is still applied as stone facing for slopes.
Also the toe of the dike - this is the transition of the dike
slope and the bank - was given certain attention . The dike
was protected here by a toe construction. The objectives were
to provide support and prevent the stone cover from sliding
off, and also to prevent undermining of the lower side of the
slope. This construction consisted of a closed or an open row
of poles with a wooden shutter or band. To give a dike toe
even more support and to prevent scouring, a sunken mattress
loaded with rubble and joining the toe construction was
used.
When the outer slope was exposed to big wave attacks, an
outside berm was developed to break the waves. An outside
berm is a lower situated flat part, which is joined to the dike.
The inner slope was not steeper than 1:2, otherwise grass
could not be planted and maintained. When the inner slopes
were too steep, these could slide off when the dike was satu-
rated with water during storm surges. To prevent this, a berm
was made to support the slope in some dikes. For instance,
when the dike was too weak during dike reinforcement
works, the road was moved from the crest to the inner berm.
This has been done, for example, in Noord-Holland during
the strengthening of the dikes along the Zuiderzee afrer the
storm disaster of 1916 . Throughout the centuries these dikes
were built from all kinds of material, among which peat. In
the framework of the opening up of this area for recreation,
recently a cycle track was made on the dike crests.
In this way the Dutch dike construction had grown into a
well-organised and comprehensive system of defence works
until fresh storm surges shattered the illusion . First it was the
1916 storm surge , which partly induced the Zuiderzee project
to be executed ; then it was the 1953 storm surge , resulting in a
rapid execution of the Delta project . The large-scale strength -
ening of dikes which followed these storm surges led to new
design methods and construction techniques for the sea walls.
With respect to this three remarkable aspects are of import -
ance.
In the first place, there is the separation offunctions in the
use ofbuilding materials. There was, of course, not enough
clay available to build the enormous stretches of dikes and
dams with their sizeable cross-sections . Sand, on the other
hand, was abundant, also from the sea. Soil mechanics had
proved that it could be an excellent building material because
of its internal friction properties. Moreover, sand could be
258 Man-made lowlands
transported hydraulically through pipelines, in the ratio of ground, with possibly a dike situated on it, was dragged in Later on supplementary insp ection of the submarine bank
about one sand to four water. Between low embankment s this slide and could sink into the depth . was done by divers and by means of underwater photog raphy .
of mine stone - waste products from the coalmines - or clay, The only remedy against these dike slidings was to protect Sporadically soil borings were m ade as well. On the basis of
the huge dike and dam bodies could be cast and shaped into the submarine banks. This happened by fixing them with very the recorded types of soil, like certain kinds of clay or sand,
profile. If there was not enough clay, the waterprooflayer big sunken mattresses. Furthermore it was necessary to do and the quality and strength of these, conclusions could be
could just as well be applied as a heavy protective layer with regular and intensive bank inpections . In 1879 the Provincial drawn on what could be expected on a certain section of the
a thickness of o.5 to 1 metre (or even more) on the sand dam States ofZeeland decided to do this. From the dike to the bank concerning the behaviour of that bank. Also by tempo-
in the form of asphaltic concrete . Furthermore , the th ickness nearest gully the depth was measured once and at the most rary monitoring of the groundwater level in observation
of this layer could be adapted to the water pressure and wave threatened banks it was measured twice . Five times a year the wells, which were placed on the inner side of the sea dike,
attacks . The outer slope could also be protected by concrete depth was measured until the further across to the other side engineers attempted to follow certain behaviour of the under-
blocks - perhaps not beautiful, but in any case practical and of the gully. In this way it was possible to measure whether ground.
functional. the capacity of the gully had increased. This was done with
In the second place, large machinery, such as suction sounding vessels. Initially these were rowing boats, and meas-
dredgers, bulldozers, purpose-built lorries and cranes could uring was done with the help of sounding leads . L~ter on the The pumping devices
be employed to do the work. Large asphaltic concrete install - rowing boats were replaced by motor boats. The sounding
ations and mechanical spreading machines could be used to was done by the water-boards and the boats were their prop- A very important development in the Netherlands was the
apply the protective layers. erty . Later on the depth was measured by echo sounding: a introduction of mechanical pumping . From 1870 this had
In the third place, there is the fact that, whereas experience signal was sent to the seabed which was reflected , thus the overtaken the pumping by windmills . The rise of steam
used to be the authority, now scientific support from labora- depth could be determined . To determine the location pumping has been spectacular. Consider ing the large capa-
tories and testing stations generally give safe direction s for Rijkswaterstaat had placed so-called WAT-stones-WAT means city, it was possible to pump out the water from the collect-
design and execution. But however much these circum stances water management. A flag could be placed in these stones .
have given impetus to the history ofhydraulic technol ogy, By measuring the distance to these stones the location of the
the ties with the past have been preserved in the basics of sounding could be determined. e---- Wind generator of the Orie Dorpen po Ider in the province
design and execution.
of Friesland, situated ten kilometres west of Leeuwarden. This large
wind generator was built on a concrete base so that the wind vane
Bank protection e---- The wind generators, which were developed in the United could put the sail wheel in the direction of the wind. Here the wind
The construction of strong sea dikes was no guarant ee for States, were designed to pump groundwater, like here in Texas. generator has to pump up water.
safety in the province ofZeeland. It occurred several ti mes tha t
land slides took place, resulting in millions of cubic met res of
ground disappearing in the deep gullies. Dikes could b e swept
away with these slidings.
The main cause ofbank slides and the related dike slidings
was that in Zeeland there were very vast and thick layers of
fine sand . These layers consisted of sand with uniform grain
sizes and with a large pore volume. Because of this the grains
in these layers were relatively loosely packed . There was water
in the pores between the grains. With only a little shock ,
which could be transmitted very fast in such a layer, th e sand
could be significantly moved . Under normal conditions the
grains would rearrange themselves into a sand mass in whic h
the grains had more coherence. However, this was not possible
while the water in the pores between the sand grains could
not get out quickly enough. The consequence was that th e
grains started to float, resulting in the disappearance of
coherence. The sand mass changed into a thick liquid , wh ich
could flow away into the deep gully. In this way the upp er
Hydraulic engineering 259
ion and transport systems better. Now also pumping could be
applied in regions where there was insufficient wind . Due to
the steam-driven pumping, the Netherlands could be kept
dry during the whole year. In the nineteenth century steam-
driven pumping stations were indispensable for keeping the
Netherlands habitable. They are also the most important and
characteristic Netherlands monuments ofbusiness and tech-
nique. Two of these pumping stations were placed on the
world heritage list of UNESCO .
Windmills and wind generators
The greatest developments in windmills took place in the
period before 1800. They had been increasingly made suitable
for the work of draining the polders and the lake reclamation
schemes. Nevertheless, windmills had some disadvantages.
First of all there was the disadvantage that, due to the distri-
burion of the wind velocity, a windmill could be in operation
for only a quarter of the time . Besides, the water storage
needed - about 10 percent of the area - used up much of the
land of a polder.
In the middle of the nineteenth century a number of
improvements were made to the windmills. The wooden
components , such as axles and vane-arms were replaced by
iron ones. This made the construction stronger and more
hard wearing but the problem of wind velocity remained.
Only in the 1930s, did interest in windmills increase once
again. On the one hand this was because the familiar sight
of windmills threatened to disappear from the Dutch land-
scape, on the other hand people had realised how vulnerable
the supply of energy was during the First World War. Partly
under the influence of aerodynamics, which also rece\ ed a lot
of attention in the Netherlands at the time, tests we~e carried
'\
out with streamlining vanes. The form of the vane was altered
numerous times and was applied in practice to a higher or
lesser degree. The streamlined vane of windmill designer,
fia .,
.__ During the sliding away u Neeltje Jans
of the sand mass in the gully,
also the upper layers with dikes
............
............
on them could disappear into ............
............
the deep. Every arrow means ............
: ...
,........
:
an estuary bank and dike slide
: ...........
: which was placed above the
along the north coast of Noord- '
'
Beveland after 1880.
260 Man-made lowlands
beforea bankslide
-----
- -----------------
aftera bankslide
--------------------
~ The sliding away of an underwater sand mass into a gully
in the southwest of the Netherlands. There was water in the large
pores of fine sand. From only a small shock this sand mass changed
into a thick liquid in which sand grains floated. This thick liquid
could sink in a gully.
A.J.Dekker ofLeiden, became best known . The application of
this type of vane and the use ofball bearings enabled a win d-
mill to start working at a wind force of 4 to 5 m/s.
A special kind of windmill was the steel wind tower, whi ch
was introduced in 1900. A big wind generator consisted of a
base or substructure of concrete, with a tower with a peak , a
platform and the ladder on it. The wheel was situated at th e
top of the tower, which was turned to face the wind by usi ng
wind vanes. By means of a construction of cast iron cogs, on
which the wheel and the vanes were fixed, via a guiding pipe, Steam -driven engines
a steel Archimedes screw was driven. A wind generator was In steam pumping three components were important: the
suitable to lifr the water about 1.5 metres, but it could only boiler in which the water was heated to steam, the steam
...,.,...
-
NAP -5
pump small areas. A wind generator with a wheel with a dia- engine and the water-lifting device.
meter of 5 metres could pump 30 hectares; a wind generator For engines driven by low-pressure steam, the steam was
- ·10
with a diameter of 12 metres could pump 700 hectargs. generated in closed boilers, which were heated from the
- -15
In 1854 the wind generator was developed in the United outside. When, during the first decennia of the nineteenth
- -20
States for pumping up water. From 1876, when the generator century engines were designed that were driven by high-
- -25
was presented at the world exhibition in Philadelphia, it was pressure steam, a new boiler had to be designed for this
used everywhere in the American countryside. The generator purpose . This was the so-called Cornwall boiler from 1812.
had to be adapted to make it suitable as a pumping device for This boiler was a cylinder, which could have a length of 10
--.-NAP
- -5
drainage. For this purpose it was radically improved by a or 12 metres. Within this cylinder a fire pipe was installed,
German manufacturer ofDresden and put on the market which heated the water and the steam . This fire pipe was
- -10
under the name of Hercules Metallicus. The wind generator located lengthwise through the whole cylinder. At the front
- -15
was imported into the Netherlands by the trading company of the fire pipe, the heating pipe, a great heat was developed
- -2 0
R.S. Stokvis & Sons Ltd. in Rotterdam. with the help ofburning coal. The hot gasses, which then
Later on wind generators were also made in the Nether- developed were spread through the fire pipe, and so this pipe
lands. They were especially applied in the province ofFries- was heated. In this way the water in the cylinder, which came
land. Wind generators have also been built in Groningen, in contact with this pipe , was converted into steam. Between
Noord-Holland and in some places in Zuid-Holland. Afrer the cylinder and the installed brick wall, spaces were lefr free,
1945 they were replaced by small electric installations. A the so-called fire corridors. When the hot gasses lefr the fire
smaller version with four wings is still in use at many places pipe at the back they did not directly disappear through the
in polders for local step pumping . chimney . First they were guided via the fire corridors, which
Wind energy is being used once more in a number of places, were made at the side of the cylinder, to the front. Next the
however, not to drive a lifting device directly . Now wind tur- hot combustion gasses were led through a fire corridor under
bines generate electricity for the electric engines of a pumping the cylinder to the back and then disappeared through the
station. · chimney. A variation of the Cornwall boiler was the Lanca-
f, .
.__ Cross-section of a Cornwall boiler. A fire pipe was installed
in the steel boiler, which was located lengthwise through the whole
boiler. The boiler was heated by coal, which was placed on a grid
at the front of the fire pipe. The very hot smoke gasses were spread
through the fire pipe and then they brushed the outside of the wall
of the built-in boiler. The canals, which were spared in the masonry,
the smoke gas canals, ensured a good guidance of the combustion
gas fiue
gasses. The combustion gasses
finally went via a canal at
the bottom of the boiler in
the direction of the chimney .
The high-pressure steam was
guided via a steam-dome, ~eating pipei
: .
boiler to the engine. gas fiue
Hydraulic engineering 261
 -I

every stroke the piston was struck heavily. The solution was
found by building an engine with two cylinders of a dissimi-
lar diameter placed above each other. Both narrow pistons in
the upper cylinder and wider ones in the lower cylinder were
connected to each other via a rod, and in this way they formed
an entirety. Fresh high-pressure steam was admitted to the
small cylinder - the high-pressure cylinder - and expanded
partly in this. In this way the double piston was pushed down .
Then the steam, which then had a much lower pressure, went
through a bypass pipe to the lower cylinder - the low-pressure
cylinder - and further expanded there. Eeach of the expansions
caused less shocks . An engine with double expansion was
called a compound-engine.
A school image of a steam-driven pumping station in the
Haarlemmermeer. On the image the polder canal to the pumping Repair of the paddles of the paddle wheel of the steam-
station is shown. The polder water could flow into suction pipes driven pumping station in Spaarndam. The paddle wheels of
through the openings at the bottom of the pumping station. steam -driven pumping stations are much larger and wider than
Furthermore , the balances and the chains to the piston rods are the ones of windmills. They are made of iron, with the exception
shown. The reservoir into which the. polder water was pumped can of the wooden paddles. In the unlikely event that a big branch or
also be seen. Via a wide gutter, under a bridge, the water could beam would enter into the paddle wheel, the paddle wheel was
flow from the reservoir into the ring canal - a part of the collection not damaged, although wooden paddles would break. These could
and transport system of Rijnfand. easily be repaired, by attaching new wooden boards.
A second innovation was that the up-and-down movement mitted via balances, the connecting beam was attached to the
of the piston via a connecting beam and a crankshaft could be end of the balance. In the pumping station near Arkel for the
transmitted in a turning movement. Because of this all kind collection and transport system , a vertical engine was built,
of engines could be driven . For the drainage pumping where the transmission to the wheel was made by a connect-
stations this meant that it was possible to connect paddle- ing beam and a crank, which were attached to the balance.
wheels or open Archimedes screws to the turning wheel. In The third improvement was the development ofhorizontal
the vertical steam engines, where the movement was trans- steam engines; the first of them was built in England in 1826.
0
L.J.Bouwens, the
first stoker of the pumping
station in Halfweg, pictured
in his Sunday suit in front
of two Lancashire boilers on
the occasion of his forty years
jubilee in 1907.

shire boiler invented in 1844. Instead of a large one, two smaller

fire pipes were installed. The steam, which was developed in
the cylinders, was caught in a steam-dome, which was placed
above the cylinders, and from here it was led to the engine.
At the large steam-driven pumping stations often several
cylinders were placed next to each other. They were situated
in a separate fire room aside of the engine room. This was
done to prevent contamination of the steam engines. The
chimney was generally placed in line with this fire room.
Since the vibration of the engines could damage the masonry
of the chimney, it was built free from the rest of the building.
The first steam engines were vertical engines. The piston
was driven by the steam, which in turn put pressure from
below and from the top on the piston and started it moving .
When a piston went up and down once this was called a
stroke. In Cornwall, in the first decennia of the eighteenth
century, engines were developed which were driven with
high-pressure steam . This expanded in the cylinders and
executed an extra driving power on the piston. The pistons
in such engines could be less heavy. The disadvantage of an
engine with high-pressure steam supply was that during

262 Man-made lowlands Hydraulic engineering 263


piston guiding support crankshaft
1 crosshead
fi17..,
Drawing of a horizontal steam engine with a connecting
beam and a crankshaft. Through the connecting beam and crank,
the up-and-down movement of the piston rod could be transferred
into a turning movement.
With this design first a solution had to be found for the fact
that the lower parts of the pistons would wear out too much.
A plus point was that the connecting beam could be directly
connected to the piston rod of the steam engine. Another
advantage was that horizontal engines were less heavy than
the vertical engines. Therefore, the buildings did not have to
be so solidly constructed and that was convenient because of
the soft soils of the Netherlands polderland. It was proof of
innovative thinking of the Netherlands hydraulic engineers
that these horizontal engines were already applied in 1835 in
the pumping station of the Zuidplas.
Around 1850 the development of the steam engine was
completed . Later on several improvements were made by
using better material, resulting in less loss of energy .
One of the oldest water-lifting devices being applied in
steam pumping was the suction pump. In this device d ie
pump piston lifts water via the suction pipe. This water 'was
pushed over the top of the pipe into a bowl from which ·it
could stream to the outside water. During the lifting of the
suction pump, the valves at the under side of the suction pipe
were opened and the water could be sucked in. As soon as the
piston pump was at its highest point the valves closed. Then
the pipe was completely filled with water. The piston pump
consisted of two valves. While descending these valves opened
so that the piston could sink in the water of the suction pipe.
While ascending the valves closed again. In the eighteenth
and the beginning of the nineteenth century suction pumps
were applied in vertical steam engines with balances. They
were not very successful. In the nineteenth century the Haar-
lemmermeer had been pumped dry with the help of suction
pumps. The choice was made for these pumps because the
264 Man-made lowlands
water had to be lifted 4.5 metres . After that time suction
pumps were no longer used for pumping .
Besides suction pumps, the classical lifting devices of the
windmill, ie the paddle-wheel and the open Archimedes
screw were used in the steam-driven pumping stations . Now
these could be made much larger and wider. The paddle-
wheels were made ofiron and wood . Paddles of wooden
boards were attached to an iron construction . If a big branch
came into the paddle-wheel, the wheel did not distort
because the wooden boards broke and they could be easily
replaced . The open Archimedes screws in the first steam-
driven pumping stations were wooden ones. The disadvantage
was that both the paddle-wheels and the open Archimedes
screws had limited lifting height.
For the suction pump as well as for the paddle-wheel and
the open Archimedes screw, lifted water had to be released
f117..1
With a balance steam engine the piston in the steam
engine was connected via chains and a balance with the piston
pump. When the steam pushed down the piston in the steam
cylinder, the piston rod went up with closed valves in the suction
pipe. When the piston pump reached its highest position, it dropped
down due to the forces of gravity. The whole cycle was called a
stroke. The balance steam engines in the pumping stations that
pumped dry the Haarlemmermeer made seven to eight strokes
per minute.
downward movement
/ the efficiency was not that good.
pump valve
! i
/
foot valve
steam cilinder water level
reservoir co llection and
transport syst ,
._
suction
pipe V t---
polder water
--
_}_J ~ pumping
suction pump
Principle of the double-
t
active suck-forcing pumps of Fijnje.
During the upward movement water inside
of the piston , the valves a and c
closed. Via valve o water entered,
via valve A water was pushed
:,,,J
J
outside. During the downward
movement of the piston the
working was in the opposite '-----
D _,. --------"• ,--p-
direction.
above the water level of the outside water. This meant that
those water levels might not fluctuate too much . For pump-
ing stations discharging water into the great rivers or into
outside water where there was much difference between low
and high tide, other lifting devices had to be looked for.
Around 1840 H.F . Fijnje, chief engineer ofRijkswaterstaat
thought to have found a solution in the development of the
double-active suck-forcing pump . This pump sucked water
from the polder and then pressed it into the outside water.
The suck-forcing pump was installed below the level of the
inner water and of the outside water. The suck-forcing
pump was applied for the first time in the polders of Alp hen,
Dreumel and Wamel in the western part of the Land van Maas
en Waal. Fijnje' s invention was considered to be very success-
ful by his contemporaries. For this he was decorated by King
Willem II with the Order of the Dutch Lion.
The suck-forcing pump has only been applied in some
places . The weak point was that the valves and the piston
were very sensitive to contamination, like small branches and
grass . Because of this the engine stagnated frequently. Also
The solution for the pumping in the Netherlands was the
introduction of the centrifugal pump . The operation was as
follows. In the pumping house (also known as pump shell
because of its shape), an impeller or paddle-wheel turned
around . Due to the high rotational speed, a higher pressure
along the contour developed by which the water was pressed
via a pipe, the pressure pipe, out of the pump. At the pump
shaft the diastolic pressure took care of the sucking of the
water via the suction pipe.
The first centrifugal pumps were placed closely above the
water to keep the suction pipe as short as possible. This was
done because an empty pump could not suck water. By filling
it with water that problem could be solved. In the beginning,
outside outside
water water
water inside
♦
A-
p
c -
pi ston
the pressure pipe had to be closed with a gate when the pump
was not in use, because otherwise the water could flow via the
pump into the polder. Later on the air in the pumping house
was sucked away with a vacuum pump . From then on, it was
possible to place the pump higher, even above the flood
protection structure . So the flood protection structure could
remain intact.
A centrifugal pump was suitable for lifting water by more
than 3.5 metres and so it was frequently used for the pump-
ing deep lakes dry . In addition it was a suck-forcing pump,
through which the lifted water could be pressed into outside
water. In this way inner water could be pumped away into the
outside water with strongly changing water levels. Since there
I,
Cross-section of a centrifugal pump . In the pumping
house (also known as 'pump shell' because of its shape), an
impeller turned around. By the high revolution velocity along the
contour a higher pressure developed, so that water was pressed
via a pressure pipe out of the pump. At the shaft of the pump the
under pressure took care of the suction of water via the suction
pipe. Before the pump started to work, the pump and suction pipe
had to be filled with water. This was done by sucking the pump
vacuum, so that by the air pressure polder water filled the pipe.
spira l case
backpressure
va lve pressure pipe +--
Hydraulic engineering 265
 In the foundry of
Werkspoor in Amsterdam a
pumping shell for a centri-
fugal pump of cast iron is
being made. The beginning
of the pressure pipe has been
attached to this pumping
shell.
was a rather large space between the impeller and the outside
wall, the pump was less sensitive for contamination. From
1860 almost all new steam-driven pumping stations were pro-
vided with centrifugal pumps.
Although the principle of the centrifugal pump dated from
the seventeenth century it was really developed only in the
middle of the nineteenth century. In 1851, at the first World
Exhibition in London, five centrifugal pumps were presented.
Three of them were from Appold, produced by Easton, Amos
& Sons, that had obtained the highest efficiencie s during
several tests . The representative of the Easton company in the
Netherlands succeeded in persuading the executors of a small
lake reclamation, the Holendrechter- and Bullewijkerpolder
near Amsterdam, to do this work with the help of a centrifugal
pump . In 1864 the same representative succeeded in persua-
ding the minister of Water Management of the usefulness
of these pumps for the reclamation of the Prins Alexander-
polder. Although the executing engineer J.A. Beijerinck did
not like this novelty, he nevertheless had to accept from the
ministry that two of the three lower pumping stations of the
Alexander polder were equipped with centrifugal pumps.
The rapid introduction of these pumps in the Netherlands
was also thanks to the involvement of private persons in
international developments.
266 Man-made lowlands
Mechanical pumping after 1900
Driving mechanisms
At the end of the nineteenth century new driving mecha-
nisms for mechanical pumping became available, like the
suction gas, diesel and electric engines. However, the role of
steam was not yet completely over. In 1917 the steam-driv en
pumping station for the collection and transport system of
Friesland near Lemmer was built. This has now been placed
on the world heritage list of UNESCO. In 1926 the last steam-
driven pumping station was built near Appeltern . This
pumping station had to pump part of the Land van Maas en
Waal and the Rijk van Nijmegen.
When there was more choice in driving mechanisms, th e
disadvantages of steam-driven pumping stations became
increasingly clear. Their construction was costly, also because
of the cylinder, the house for the cylinder, the chimney, and
the foundation of the whole building . Furthermore, it too k
quite some time to make the engine ready for running.
Therefore, for the building of the pumping station that
would have to pump the collection and transport system of
Delfland, the choice was consciously made for a diesel engi ne.
This collection and transport system was very small compa red
to the surface of the area that discharged on it, and the wat er
levels could rise fast in the case of heavy rainfall. Therefore ,
a first requirement was the quick availability of pumping
capacity.
Suction gas engine
In the beginning of the twentieth century, on a limited
scale, pumping was done using a suction gas engine as an
energy source. This internal-combustion engine was a four-
stroke engine and can be compared with the present-day
petrol engine in a car. With the first stroke (suction stroke)
the piston moved backwards and sucked the combustible gas
into the cylinder. At the second stroke the piston moved
forwards again and compressed the combustible gas. This
combustible gas ignated with the help of an electrical spark.
In this way the piston moved backwards with power. The
centrifugal pump was driven by this working stroke . At the
fourth stroke the piston moved forwards again and the used
gas mixture was pushed out of the cylinder. Next the first
stroke followed again (the suction stroke).
The gas for the engine was made in a generator. This was
a shaft furnace filled with glowing anthracite . Above the
anthracite a circular reservoir filled with hot water was placed.
During the suction stroke of the gas engine air was sucked
across the surface of the water and in this way became satu-
rated with vapour . This air was then sucked through the
anthracite . In this way a gas was produced by incomplete
combustion, containing : 18 percent hydrogen, o.6 percent
methane, 25 percent carbon monoxide, 6 percent carbon
dioxide and 50 percent nitrogen. Next this gas was cleaned
in a scrubber. This consisted of a cylinder of sheet iron in
which there was a thick layer of coke on a grid. The coke was
sprinkled with fine jets of water. This seeped through the
whole layer and departed the scrubber at the bottom . The
cleaned gas was sucked into the gas kettle, and from there to
the cylinder of the gas engine. Because the whole process was
initiated by the sucking power of the engine during the
sucking stroke, the gas made in the generator was called
suction gas.
Advantages of this kind of engine were the rather low fuel
consumption and the easy operation. Besides, a chimney was
not required . Because of the functioning, during which also a
lot of dirt was created, the installation to generate the suction
gas would have to be placed in a separate room. The install-
ation needed much less space than the boilers of a steam
engine, so the fire room could be much smaller. But the
engine was expensive in maintenance and , just like the steam-
driven engine, not easily set in operation . Moreover, the engine
had to be installed upon a heavy foundation.
Suction gas engines were only used on a limited scale,
because at that same time the diesel and electric engines were
put on the market . Most of the suction gas engines remained
in operation until about 1950 .
Diesel engine
After Germany had developed a practicable diesel engine
in 1897, such an engine was installed in a pumping station
in the Netherlands in 1904. A diesel engine was an internal
combustion engine, in which hot air was sucked into the
cylinder and next was pressed together by the piston. In this
way the air could reach a temperature of 600 °C. Diesel oil was
spouted into this hot compressed air reaching combustion
and causing the piston to move backwards with power.
The output of diesel engines was high in comparison to
othe r driving mechanisms and they could withstand a certain
degree of too fast and too slow rotation. They could be ready
for operation within a reasonable period of time, but a dis-
advantage was the fact that the pumping station needed extra
heavy foundations because of the internal combustion engine.
Moreover, the oil storage tanks took up too much space.
The diesel engines still fulfill an important role in keeping
the Netherlands dry. The most recent IJsselmeerpolder
- Zuidelijk Flevoland- has been pumped dry by diesel pump-
ing . Some large polders used so-called double pumping. In
addition to diesel pumping, double-pumped polders were
also kept dry by electrical pumping. Reason for this was that
when one means of pumping failed the other could still be
used.
Electric engine
At the same time as the suction gas engine and the diesel
engine appeared, there also was the rise of the electric engine
as a driving mechanism . An electric engine was a spool
wrapped in copper wire within a magnet, which was turned
by the supply of electrical energy . This turning movement
could easily be transmitted and in this way could turn an
impeller of a centrifugal pump.
In the Netherlands, electric pumping was applied for the
first time in a large number of small polders in Noord-
Brabant. By digging the Bergse Maas, the discharge situation
of a number of polders deteriorated . It became impossible to
discharge all the surplus water via a sluice only. According to
the water management legislation this deterioration had to
Hydraulic engineering 267
be compensated by supplementary measures of the central
government. For this electrical pumping was chosen . The idea
came from some engineers but it was not yet applied any-
where . Before the system was tested in 1902, the Memel delta
in German East Prussia - nowadays on the border of the
Russian enclave Kaliningrad and Lithuania - was pumped by
electric engines .
In Brabant a pump with electric engine was placed in every
polder at every discharge sluice. Every pump was provided
with a float. When the inner water rose the float was pushed
up. When a certain height of the water was reached, a button
was switched by the float and electricity was automatically
supplied to the engine, so that the engine started to drive the
lifting device. When the float had reached a certain level to
stop, the supply of electrical energy was switched off While
the countryside ofNoord-Brabant was not yet connected to
a power plant around 1900, the energy for the pumps was
A suction gas generator. ,Blowing a mixture of water
vapour and air over glowing anthracite or cokes made suction
gas. The gas contains 18 percent hydrogen, 25 percent carbon
monoxide, G percent carbon dioxide, 50 percent nitrogen and
one percent other gases. The water vapour and the suction gas
were developed in a pipe network and they were sucked by the
engine (this is where the name comes from), which had to drive
the suction gas. A suction gas generator consisted of
the generator itself, a scrubber and a gas container.
A scrubber was a cylinder of plate steel in which
there was a thick layer of cokes on a grid. This
was sprayed from the top with fine water jets
and thoroughly soaked. The gas was sucked air
from underneath through the scrubber and so it
was cleaned before it went to the gas container.
268 Man-made lowlands
delivered from a private power plant . The dynamos were
started by steam engines . The power was transported to the
small pumping stations via overhead wires .
The advantages of electrical pumping are numerous. The
supply of energy was very easy. Also at places where it was no t
possible to supply coal or oil, an electrical pumping station
could be built . These small pumping stations could be hous ed
in small buildings with less sturdy foundations. They were
easy in operation as well. Switching only one button was
sufficient to tum on the engine . A disadvantage of an electric
engine was that the number of rotations could hardly be
regulated.
The dependence on the power network was both advan-
tageous and disadvantageous. The power plant could use
several kinds offuel and therefore it was less dependent on
price fluctuations. Especially in the initial period, pumping
stations were not permitted to be in use during peak hours ,
scrubber
j to engin e
l
gas container
L .J
•
An electrical pumping
station with a centrifugal
pump. An electric engine,
via a belt transmission, drove
a centrifugal pump.
to prevent the power network from being overloaded . Now- paddle-wheels were made of steel. This made it possible to
adays pumping especially takes place during weekends and change the form of the paddles in such a way that more water
night hours, in this way use can be made of a cheap tariff could be pumped out . The connection of a paddle-wheel with
However, the greatest advantage was that the pumping a limited number of rotations per minute to a modem engine
stations could be operated automatically. Since the 1950s the was too inefficient. With the introduction of the new engines
small polder pumping stations were increasingly automated. the role of the paddle-wheel was therefore over.
This meant that a pressure gauge and a switch were installed . In the beginning, the manufacture of steel open Archimedes
Since 1980 pumping stations have been connected via a
modem with a control panel in a central bureau , to which the
registration of the water level, the number of pumping hours , A screw pump. In a screw pump water is pumped up
and the working situation are transferred . Nowadays it is also by a fast turning, horizontal rotor. The shaft of the impeller is
possible to observe whether there is a burglary, or if there is parallel with the lifting pipe. The paddles of the rotor are bent
an engine or pump failure. When the control post is not in two directions. Besides a turning motion they also give the
manned, the signal goes via a pager or the telephone to the water a motion in the direction of the turning shaft of the rotor.
guard on duty .
Automated water quantity management means that only
In the screw pump, as shown here, the rotor is located in the
water; therefore it is not necessary to have a vacuum.
a few people are occupied with the water level. Until about
1900, at least one person per pumping station was required
to take care for the engines and tools ; in the course of the
twentieth century this number decreased to one person for
a number of pumping stations. Nowadays only a few people
have to guard the automated system and some others manage
the pumping stations and the repair of failures. backpressure
valve
Lifting devices
The paddle-wheel, the open Archimedes screw and the
centrifugal pump were modified in the course of time. The
Hydraulic engineering 269
screws was a failure. During the reclamation of the Prins
Alexander polder the pumping station was provided with
open Archimedes screws made of riveted steel plate . Because
it was not possible to estimate the forces of the water very
well at the open Archimedes screw, and the rivet connection
appeared not to be able to cope with that, there were quite
some problems . Only when the screw blades could be welded
to the shaft, did the steel open Archimedes screw become a
very applicable pumping tool, like in the modern pumping
stations. The disadvantage of these open Archimedes screws
was the great leaking losses of the screws when the inner
water level is very high. During the heavy rainfall period of
September 1998 the efficiency of the pumping stations in
Zeeland was very low. Then the replacement of the open
Archimedes screws by pumps was taken into consideration .
The centrifugal pump was also improved several times . In
the beginning cast iron was used as material for the pump
shell, while the impeller was made ofbronze , cast iron or cast
steel. Later on steel was used, while nowadays synthetic mate-
rials are being applied. A renew <\l was also that centrifugal
pumps were developed having the pump shaft vertically, in
this case the engine was horizontal. This pump has been
applied for the electrical pumping of the polders near the
newly dug Bergse Maas.
In 1915 the first screw pumps were installed in the Nether-
lands. Mostly they were used in combination with electric
engines, but they could also be applied with a diesel engine.
Like the centrifugal pump, the screw pump worked by rota -
,l
De Mura/t walls,
SCHO UWEN
named after the engineer Oijkverhooging van gewapend baton,
systeem de Muralt"
11
of the Water-board of
Schouwen were made of
reinforced concrete. They
were meant to prevent waves
from overtopping the dikes
and not to stop overflow of
water over the crest.
270 Man-made lowlands
tion. The screw pump was tube-shaped and had a fast turn ing UIDUK IIYEllillA■ S
rotor impeller. The paddles at the rotor were bent in two I.ll ad 1;3_
directions . Besides giving the water a turning motion, they
also moved the water in the direction of the turning shaft of
the rotor. The paddles could be made adjustable, so that the l'll
pump could be adapted to the changing lifting heights . Screw
pumps could be applied with a horizontal as well with a
vertical or a sloping shaft. In the vertical position they were
always placed under the lowest water level, and provided wit h
a gate to close the suction pipe when there was no pumping .
These pumps functioned best at lifting heights of 3.5 metre s.
At present the drained lakes, especially in Friesland , are sti ll
pumped with screw pumps. Also a number of American win d
generators were equipped with small screw pumps. The sma ll
windmills for step pumping that still exist in the polders are
in many cases, provided with small screw pumps.
$elrn-,I I a .:.?100
l ==t= - -
New materials or,1@J>(lmCU en '" Mntl 3cbr~.11 iu !rd r~,-J/:lJ(j
JJc l>ljkrtm<'M~r
For centuries hydraulic engineering meant building with
r,
bricks, wood, sand and clay. In the nineteenth and twentieth Not only Rijkswaterstaat made very accurate maps.
centuries new materials came into use, under which iron , Also some water-boards made very exact maps of the works that developed into a complicated construction, reinforced con-
steel, new kinds of cement, reinforced concrete and syntheti c belonged to their management tasks. For example, the Principal crete created the possibility to go back to the simplicity of a
materials. Their introduction influenced the design and water -board of the Lekdijk Bovendams had a series of dike maps monolithic construction. In this respect the building of the
construction of hydraulic structures . An example was the prepared showing, among other th ings, the inundation sluice near Noordersluis in IJmuiden in the twenties was a highlight.
application of steel sheet piles . These piles were used for the Fort Honswijk. · Reinforced concrete offered, and still offers, a large extent of
installation of sheet piling to protect building pits against freedom in design, because it can be effectively adjusted to
function demands, arising forces and material tensions . The
underflow and side underflow . At the same time they also concrete technique made progress . After the Second World
made it possible to use so-called deep -well pumps for War prestressed concrete was introduced. The triangular
drainage by wells. constructions in the Haringvliet sluices were a very pro-
Few building materials have had such a big influence on gressive application of prestressed concrete .
the design ofhydraulic structures as reinforced concrete. In Also during the Delta project many new materials were
the beginning of the twentieth century this new building developed and used. The bottom protection constructions ,
technique developed very fast. Initially only culverts, quay in which also synthetic materials were applied, were a good
walls and some loose parts ofhydraulic structures were made and cheap alternative for the traditional willow sunken matt-
of reinforced concrete. The so-called De Muralt walls, named resses.
after the engineer of the Water-board ofSchouwen, R. de
Muralt, are well known. These walls - which are still present
at several places in Zeeland - were meant to prevent that Sounding and measuring
waves would overtop the dikes and were an alternative to the
heightening of dikes . Land surveying and sounding is traditionally very import-
The application of reinforced concrete changed sluice ant in the hydraulic engineering world. From the nineteenth
building. Whereas the sluice of masonry on a wooden foun- century this was done on a larger scale and more systemati-
dation and with natural stone recesses and grooves had cally. The standardisation had a relation to the creation of the
Hydraulic engineering 271
+
 Simple concrete culvert lenght section The groundwater fevel was ring main pumping to open water

sluice. To prevent cracks from lowered by wells. This stopped the original groundwater level
developing due to the shrinking - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - H .W.- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - upward pressure in a building pit.

of concrete, the sluice gallery was The wells consisted of long pipes that

made in pieces of eighteen or were perforated at the lower side. The

twenty metres. The joints between lower side was provided with a casing lower groundwater level

these pieces were weak points in of filter sand and provided with filter-

the construction because they gauze. The pipes were connected to a draft tube.---.+
I sheet piling sheet piling
single well point system
sheet piling reinforced concrete piles suction pipe at the top. A piston pump delivery head max. about 7 m
had to be sand and waterproof
if they were not, leakage could lowered the pressure and, due to this,
the groundwater was sucked up by as filter
also take sandy soil from the dike top view Detail filter
body, resulting in holes in the dike. much as seven metres and pressed
sheet piling against side
underflow away into the outside water. When the I
Also, because of such problems,
protection screens are still always
I
gate groove
+
building pit was deeper, well pumping in -----------
~
I
stages was applied. Another possibility
placed at the position of the I
movable water-retaining structures, was to apply deep-well pumping. A suck- I
and at inflow and outflow openings wooden plan of piles forcing pump was then installed at the I
door
to prevent side underflow and lower side of the pipe. The head was very I
I
underflow. These water-retaining
structures were mostly made of a
t
stop
high in this case and it was determined
by the pressure height.
+
hard type of wood.

detail A hoisting chain

I
b
---------------------------------------------------------------
,
well point system with borehole I
pumps delivery head very large,
being determined by pump only I
width varies from 400 tot 460 mm I
height varies from 100 tot 460 mm
I
t
meeting rail
Detail
I
against leakage I
filter I
-----------. ' --
'

B
pile foundation
..c:
under the walls of ------------,--
sluice chamber

b b

fir, 2
The introduction of steel partition profiles made it possible
width varies from 430 (A) to 360/400 (B) mm
to make sheetpile walls, by which building pits could be protected height varies from 160/180 (A) to 200/320 mm (B)
from penetrating water.

272 Man-made lowlands Hydraulic engineering 273

•

Hendrik Antoon Lorentz (1853-1928), physician and
Nobel prize winner, was appointed by Lely to scientifically
investigate the consequences of the closure of the Zuiderzee.
unitary state. It is for good reason that Rijkswaterstaat is ex-
plicitly charged with the data collection for the knowledge
on the water management situation in the country, and with
respect to the road and water traffic. Shortly after its founding
in 1798, the General Service was charged to do this. The
making of staff gauge and river sounding registers, discharge
measurement, and registration of water levels belonged to th e
tasks. In 1829 King Willem r decided have general river maps
made, on which not only the situation of the rivers, but also,
among other things, banks, dikes, river forelands and struc-
tures were shown in detail. The making of these maps went
together with the introduction of new uniform staff gauges
with the Amsterdams Peil (AP)as zero reference . These maps
formed the basis for the river improvement works. In 1864 a
274 Man-made lowlands
start was made with the making of the water management
map of the Netherlands. This map showed surface levels of
areas, low embankments and dikes, the average, highest and
lowest water levels of the sea and the rivers, and data abour
drainage and on hydraulic structures . In 1875 a start was
made with the first exact levels observation campaign. The
results of this campaign for the whole Netherlands were
indicated with the NormaalAmsterdams Peil (NAP).
In the course of time the need for a greater accuracy in-
creased. The development of more advanced measuring
equipment went together with the calling in of specialists.
In 1921 W. Schermerhorn, especially known as the prime
minister after the Second World War, founded the Geodetic
Office. Ten years later this institute was assimilated as Survey
Service in the organisation ofRijkswaterstaat . This institute
took over quite some of the abovementioned measuring tasks
and played an important role in the introduction and develop-
ment of modern measurement methods, such as aerial photo-
graphic mapping.
Soil mechanics
Until the twentieth century the knowledge of several issues
that determine the costs of structures and the reliability of
constructions was marginal, like earth pressure, underflow
and side underflow, and stability of earth bodies. In the
Netherlands, and in particular in regions with a soft soil, th at
knowledge was very important. With experience, intuition
and rules of thumb it was possible to solve much, but in prac-
tice it was preferred to play safe. The builders made calcu-
lations with ample safety margins and they made their con-
structions heavier than was actually necessary. Nevertheless ,
problems in hydraulic engineering could not always be
prevented, for instance in the form of settlement and slidin g.
In the nineteenth century the technique of soil drilling
improved, resulting in an improved reliability of soil analyses.
Thanks to steam power and new pneumatic techniques it was
possible to ram deeper, more powerfully and faster. Insight in
soil pressure, the background of settlement, and the bearin g
capacity of the soil only came in the 1920s. Then the Germa n
K. von Terzaghi laid the basis for modern soil mechanics. In
the Netherlands his methods and theories were rapidly accep-
ted . In 1934 the Delft Geotechnics Laboratory was founded
- now called GeoDelft . Its objective was to do systematic
research, to collect field data with respect to soil mechanics ,
as well as to give practical advice. Since then the knowledge
of the behaviour and the properties of soil has been available.
For hydraulic engineering and also for road construction
these insights were offar-reaching importance.
Hydraulic laboratory research
To prevent surprises and failures, it was important to be
able to estimate adequately the consequences and risks during
the execution ofhydraulic engineering works . The necessity
increased as hydraulic engineering interventions and
hydraulic structures became larger. With the help of scale
models, certain conditions and situations can be simulated
in hydraulic laboratories .
During the nineteenth century hydraulic laboratory
research was already done outside the Netherlands on a small
scale. Only in the beginning of the twentieth century did this
type of scientific research become more significant. It devel-
oped especially in Germany . Initially, in the Netherlands,
There is also research
being done by small tests in
practice. The Haringvliet
sluices have to keep the saline
seawater out of the Haring-
vliet. Because of the social
desire to admit tidal motion
in the Haringvliet again,
some saline seawater was let
into the Haringvliet in 1997
by way of a test.
they waited to see which way the wind blew. Some experi-
ments were carried out with scale models and in 1919 a com-
mission investigated the possibilities to found a hydraulic
laboratory here, but the top engineers of that time did not see
much in that novelty. The result was that in the beginning of
hydraulic research, one was dependent on the German labo-
ratories.
During the design of the weir near Borgharen in the frame-
work of the canalisation of the Maas, and during the con-
struction of the sluice in IJmuiden positive results were
achieved . The latter case was an experiment to fill the lock
chamber in a short time according to a new system . With this
system it turned out to be possible to have considerable
savings on the total construction costs of the Noordersluis.
Thanks to these successes the hydraulic model research won
the day. In 1927 the Delft Hydraulics Laboratory- now called
WL Delft Hydraulics - was founded. This type of research very
soon turned out to be indispensable, for example, during the
design of sluices with a great lift, and the Zuiderzee project.
During the construction of the Enclosing Dam it was not
Hydraulic engineering 275
only possible to rely on this research to a large extent, but a
fiasco could also be prevented.
Especially after 1945 the initially still rather primitive
research developed very fast. In Delft and in the outside
laboratory ofDe Voorst (Noordoostpolder), for example,
enormous scale models of the delta area were made to
examine the best method of closure of the estuaries and its
consequences.
Scheme of a closure from both banks during which
- while the current velocity increased - the layers one to five
were dumped in sequence. In the past the last remaining gap,
like during construction of the dam through the Sloe in 1871,
was closed by sinking sunken mattresses . For the flow control
dam in the Amsteldiep and the boulder clay dam on which the
Enclosing Dam was built, the last gaps could be closed, because
tough boulder clay was used, and a lot material could be supplied
with by using floating cranes and other vessels. For the closing
of the last gaps in the breach holes ,of Walcheren from 1944, and
of the breach holes elsewhere in Zeeland after the storm surge
disaster of 1953, caissons were used. Caissons have also been used
for the closing of some coastal inlets during the implementation
of the Delta project. During the closure with horizontal layers,
the fastest current velocity occurred after dumping layer 3. This
way of closing was done by applying a scaffold over the closure gap
and, for example, to have a small train with dumping carts ride
on it. During the Delta project, the closure of estuaries with the
help of cable-ways was in fact a closure with horizon t al layers.
it
2 2
velocity
4
3
2
velocit y
276 Man-made lowlands
Tidal computations and coast and sea research
In the beginning there was not much known about the
consequences of the closure of the Zuiderzee . To determine
the effects on currents, the tide, and water levels during stor m
surges Lely set up a state commission under the leadership of
the famous physician and Nobel prize winner H.A. Lorentz .
This commission were given the emphatic task to do a scientific
study on these phenomena . By means of tidal calculations the
commission tried to get this insight . Before they could really
start, first enough data had to be collected in the field of tida l
fluctuations, currents, and wind set-up . Furthermore the
commission would have to get a better picture of the normal
tidal movement and the changes in it due to the closure . That
was only possible by visualising the complicated gully pattern
as a schematic system of canals . Next the effect of the closure
could be investigated with the mathematical model , and
water levels during storm surges could be calculated . These
outcomes played an important role in the final choice for th e
location of the Enclosing Dam and in the decision making on
the method and approach of the closure activities.
In later years the calculation model ofLorentz was improve d
and adjusted to the conditions . It was, for example, not pos-
sible to apply it directly to the delta area due to the combi-
nation of the tide and the discharge of river water. In that
case the computation ofhorizontal tidal movements (tidal
currents) was of special importance . In the beginning there
was not much progress with such complicated calculations.
J.van Veen came with the idea to represent the tidal currents
by alternating currents, in this way they could be simulated
electrically. Finally this idea led to the Del tar, one of the first
computers in the Netherlands. This was the best way to cal-
culate the closure of the delta waters and its consequences fast
and reliably .
Not only the knowledge of tidal movements improved
enormously, but also other research with respect to the coast
and the sea increased rapidly since the 1930s. In this way an
increasingly clear picture was obtained of the dynamics of t he
coastal area and of aspects like sand replacements , land sub-
sidence and sea level rise. The Delta project contributed sub-
stantially to the further intensification of such research. A
separate service ofRijkswaterstaat, the Service ofTidal Waters
was charged with this .
The construction of closure dams for the closing off
of gullies
In the nineteenth and the twentieth centuries people were
capable of closing increasingly wider gullies . With respect to
this a technical solution had to be found for the follow ing
problems . During the closing of a gully, the current velocity
increased enormously in the part not yet closed . The tidal
movement could easily wash away the material that was
dumped in the gap . A solution for this was to close the gap
by applying horizontal layers built up from the bottom .
However , when this was halfway, the current velocity could
become so fast, that the newly supplied material was taken
away with the water.
In the coastal area of the isles in Zeeland and Zuid-Holland
the tidal waves flow around the isles and they meet each other
at a certain moment . This point is called tidal divide . The
tides are only noticeable from the low tide and high tide
water levels. So, only a vertical water movement can be ob-
served and very little horizontal flow. When a coastal inlet is
dammed and the other one remains open , a totally different
pattern of tidal currents develops in the estuaries. Due to this,
banks and dikes can be undermined. However, a tidal divide
area is especially suitable for constructing a dam, because
there are no significant currents, therefore, it is possible to
apply materials with a low specific weight to make a closure
dam . Another advantage of a tidal divide area is that sunken
mattresses can virtually always be placed . Traditionally this
was only done at the turn of the low tide, because not only
was the sinking distance was shorter and there was less chance
of misplacing the mattress, but also because a mattress would
sink almost vertically after the lines had been cut, thanks to
the absence of current .
In the southwest of the Netherlands there was of course
Cross-section of the flow
control dam in the Amsteldiep.
This dam was made of boulder
clay; thereafter the dam was
i__
made wider with sand that was
protected by the boulder clay on
top. Both toes of the dam were
provided with a protection of
- NAP -:~ t-t ress _____
sunken mattresses. Then the dike
was laid on the flow control dam.
SEA
Water flowed from both sides in such a way that, at the
tidal divide, the current came to a halt and the water level rose.
also the problem of the subsoil consisting of very vast and
thick layers of fine sand in the area with bank slides . In this
way shallow slides could also occur, due to this a whole sand-
bank could disappearing into a gully. In these shallows it was
not possible to construct closure dams in the traditional way.
In spite of all technical achievements the closure of gullies
remained a precarious activity. The current undermined the
constructions, and these in turn could partly collapse and
slide offby their own weight .
The traditional closing off techniques
A creek or gully was filled up after a discharge sluice had
been built and was put into operation . The remaining open-
ing could then be closed off with simple means and materials .
Closing was particularly easy when a gully had little discharge
at low tide or when it was dry. Some bottom protection by
means of sunken mattresses, which were sunk at the turn of
the tides and were ballasted with stones or rubble, was suffi-
cient .
If the tidal gap was rather wide and deep, a closure dam was
made by putting in horizontal layers. Sunken mattresses were
boulde r clay
CJ sand
_...-.,..._
•-·-·-·-·
-+·-·-47
.5m
- rmamm
-
130 m
Hydraulic engineering 277
deposited at the bottom of the tidal gap. With wheelbarrows
or lorries on a temporary railway, heavy sods, lumps of clay
or rock were dumped from the scaffolding and thus a closing
dam was cast in relatively horizontal layers until the crest of
the dike was higher than the high tide level. Subsequently,
the dike body was built of clay, or sometimes of sand or sandy
clay. When the dike profile was ready, sods could be put
against it . In places where heavy wave attacks were to be
feared, if possible, a slope with stone facing was made after
the toe of the dike had been strengthened with rip-rap and
fascine mattresses on the outside at a level lower than the low
tide level.
Another possibility was to make constructions in which
much willow was used. This was especially done in the south-
west of the Netherlands where this willow was available in
large quantities (the Biesbosch). In this way, in not too deep
gullies, after the placing of the sunken mattresses on the
bottom two willow dams were placed, on both sides of the
furure dike. Between them clay or sand for the dike body was
dumped from ships . In this way the loss of soil due to the
tidal currents was prevented . For the closure of the coastal
inlets, like the Sloe between Walcheren and Zuid-Beveland a
number of sunken mattresses was placed on top of each other
until they rose above the water level at low tide. On this a
willow dam was placed until it rose above high tide . Because
the pile worm could damage willow dams, these had to be
filled up with sand at the outside as well, as quickly as possible.
The Enclosing Dam of the Zuiderzee
The construction of the Enclosing Dam was an exception-
ally large-scale work and many problems, as yet unkriown,
had to be solved. The dam had to be built on a sandy sea soil,
cut by gullies. To prevent the gullies from shifting during
building of the dam, they had to be fixed by means of matt-
resses. The construction ofboulder clay flow control dams
resulted in a reduction in the required mattresses. So a
boulder clay flow control dam was cast in the gully of the
Amsteldiep. The actual dike was built on top of this flow
control dam. Later it proved to be necessary to replenish the
boulder clay several times, but then the flow control dam had
been exposed to current and wave movements for three years
before it was used as foundation for the actual dam.
As the test with a submerged sill through the Amsteldiep,
consisting mainly ofboulder clay, had proved to be a great
success, the Enclosing Dam between Wieringen and Friesland
was built in a similar way. For the greater length (29 kilo-
278 Man-made lowlands
metres) the boulder clay was dumped directly on the seabed,
so that any washing away at the head end of the work was
limited by using large capacity equipment.
Where there were gullies, the flow control dam and the
adjacent sandy bottom were entirely protected against
current erosion by mattresses. Next, the Enclosing Dam
was dumped from both sides on top of the dam by floating
clamshell bucket cranes . Owing to the large capacity it was
possible to bring both heads of this enclosing dam together
until the last gap was sealed . In the worst case there was a
50 percent loss in boulder clay. At the first closing gap, the
Middelgronden, the nearby sandy soil was washed away to a
depth of 28 m-NAP.By diverting the Enclosing Dam and by
maximising the dumping capacity the gap was eventually
sealed. After that, sand could be flushed against this dike
(with suction dredgers) and be brought under profile to be
completed afterwards.
This method of closing off resembled an earlier one very
much, for instance the closure of the Sloe. But now the scale
was much larger and the fascine dam had been replaced by a
boulder clay flow control dam and the clay dike by a boulder
clay dike.
Of course, other proposals for a method for closure have
been considered. One of them is worth mentioning, because
it pointed in a direction which was taken later at the Delta
project for half the dams. The proposal was to build floating
sluices of reinforced concrete, provided with lifting gates, to
transport them to the closing gap, to sink them and to fill the
space in between. In this way the need to construct discharge
sluices in the Enclosing Dam for the control of the water level
and discharge of water from the IJsselmeer would be provided
for. However, this method of floating sluices was considered
to be too risky. At the closure of the Zuiderzee fixed discharge
sluices have always been built in building pits .
The Phoenix-caissons
Caissons were big boxes of reinforced concrete. These could
be navigated in a gully and next they could be sunk by filling
them with sand. By the application of caissons the flow velo-
city could be enforced.
In order to rout the Germans from Walcheren in October
1944, the allied air bombings destroyed the dikes at four
places, inundating the isle. Only after liberation (May 1945),
could repair be taken into hand . By then winter storms had
raged across the island and the sea had had ample time to
scour out deep gullies at the dike breaches. These circum-
stances hampered repair very much and, moreover, much
heavy equipment had gone missing in the preceding war
period . In addition there was almost no time or opportunity
for scientific research . Almost all decisions were made during
the realisation .
Due to the circumstances and in view of the size of the
dike breaches unconventional means were called in. Floating
pontoons and reinforced concrete caissons, which turned
out to be available were remembered. Originally they had
been destined to build a port quickly on the Normandy coast
during the invasion in 1944. The caissons were very large,
up to 60 x 12 metres, 12 metres high (the Phoenix-caissons).
The pontoons were much smaller, i.e. 12.55 x 5.65 metres,
2.63 metres high (the so-called Beetles). The caissons were
destined to function as a mooring pier by sinking them in a
row. The pontoons had to serve as floating points of support
for the steel bridge sections connecting the jetties and the
shore . Steel nets were also available which had been intended
for the interception oflaunched torpedoes. Caissons and
pontoons could be used for filling closing gaps by sinking
them into the gap and by filling them up quickly with earth
and rock. With the torpedo nets underflow and side under-
flow could be combated.
The Braakman
closed off with two Phoenix-
caissons. The upper beam of
the first caisson had been
demolished and was replaced
by steel gates. After sinking,
the water could flow in and
out when the gates were lifted
so one could speak of a sluice
caisson. While the second
caisson was navigated into
place, it was still possible to
let the tidal current through
via the first caisson.
Although contractors were initially suspicious of the use of
materials they were not familiar with, they were widely used.
There was little choice, for there was little time. In the autumn
of 1945 storms could be expected turning the closing into a
very risky operation .
The closing of the breach at Rammekens, east ofVlissingen,
can serve as an example of the risks that were run. Here the
dike had been destroyed over a length of 750 metres and the
new dike with a closing gap was built about 150 metres more
inland . 10 to 24 million m 3 of water passed through five
gullies at neap tide and spring tide. The middle gully was the
largest, therefore, the closing gap was planned there . For the
closure of the smaller gullies two concrete caissons with a
length of 44 metres each and an iron Kempenaar (a river-
vessel) had already been sunk and filled up with sand and clay
(November 28th 1945). On 1 December a Phoenix-caisson was
positioned in the remaining gap and weighed down with
180 tons of rock. The caisson was placed on a rather small sill.
The side underflow and underflow, however, were so strong
that the mattresses and rip-rap of the sill were undermined
and washed away into the nearby depression . The caisson
dropped as well and a steel pontoon, against which the
Phoenix-caisson had been sunk, disappeared in the deep .
Hydraulic engineering 279
 The 'standard'
caissons for the closure of
the Brielse Maas.
,sm ! ,s m ! pontoons
Now there was a 25 metre hollow where formerly a peninsula
with a stretch of dike had been.
After repeated sinking of mattresses in order to create a
new closing gap at the head of the dike and to protect the
bottoms again, a second Phoenix-caisson was towed in with
Possibilities of com- five tug-boats on January 24th 1946. The remaining gaps were
bining 'standard' caissons. closed with Beetles as far as possible and the side underflow
The normal caissons were and underflow were combated with clay and anti-torpedo
six metres high but could nets . Using three cranes for the clay and three suction
be heightened by means of dredgers for the sand, the matter was further consolidated.
staple caissons. On February 3rd 1946 the closure was safe enough and a start
was made with the heightening and completion of the dike.
Due to the closures a great deal of experience was also
gained which advanced engineering technology, and proved
to be invaluable after the storm surge of 1953 for the provi-
7-~
sional repair and finally the Delta project .
In the first place this experience concerned the use of
large, unwieldy elements such as ships and caissons to seal
the closing gaps with all the related complications of man-
oeuvring and sinking. Moreover, much practical experience
was gained with regard to the scouring forces of the current,
the speed and extent of soil erosion, the number of mattresses
required and what weight of rip-rap was needed. These last
factors were related to the creation of a sill on which the
caissons had to be sunk. And finally, much insight was gained
into the necessity of avoiding and counteracting side under-
flow and underflow as much as possible when caissons were
used.
280 Man-made lowlands
j'v \ January241h1946
_:_j
seaside
~ . The closing of the gap at Rammekens. In November
1945 a steel pontoon had been sunk in the remaining gap at
the northern side and the last gap would have to be closed by
navigating a Phoenix-caisson into place. During the turning of
the caisson such a strong current developed that due to underflow
and side underflow the caisson sank too deep, the steel pontoon
was displaced and a part of the dike was washed away. On the
spit of land lying behind, an erosion hole of almost 26 metres
deep was created. Only on January 1946 could the gap finally be
closed, by navigating a new Phoenix-caisson into place.
'Standard' caissons and adapted Phoenix-caissons
For the closure the coastal inlets special caissons were
developed for closing the gullies. In 1950 the closure of the
Brielse Maas was completed. For this purpose rather small
caissons were built (11 x 7.5 metres, 6 metres high) which
could be stacked . Two types of caissons were prefabricated:
an open type that had to be positioned with a floating crane,
and a type that had been provided with a bottom, but with
an opening in the middle, and that could be towed in floating
and be sunk by opening valves in the bottom, one in each
compartment . After having been sunk the caissons had to be
filled up with sand and clay as soon as possible to increase
their stability and secure closer connection with the stone sill.
In the Brielse Maas there were two gullies : the northern
flood gully was about 375 metres wide and the southern ebb
gully was about 250 metres wide. In between there was a
shallow area stretching for more than 170 metres. The ebb
Hydraulic engineering 281
gully was considerably deeper than the flood gully ; therefore,
a gap with a length of 60 metres was projected to be closed in
the ebb gully .
Here , too, the working order was to build the dam across
the shallows of the sandbars and to make a connection with
the banks first, closing the flood gully and part of the ebb
gully with 75 prefab caissons in total. Then the remaining
large closing gap in the ebb gully was closed off with a 'Nor-
mandic' Phoenix-caisson .
During the closing of the Braakman in 1952, there was the
problem that the tidal differences were three to five metres
during neap and spring tide. This resulted in a very strong
tidal current at the mourh of the Braakman. It appeared that
a closing gap of 110 metres width was required . Here, too,
Phoenix-caissons were used, of which two were needed . Once
the first caisson would be sunk in the remaining part of the
closing gap a high current velocity would occur . This could
not be allowed to happen, as the rock on the fascine matt-
resses of the sill would be washed away and there was the
chance of too much loss of soil beside the mattresses . More-
over, it would be impossible to weigh down the second
caisson so heavily immediately after sinking that it would be
able to resist the lateral pressure of difference in water level
due to the tide, which would occur a few hours later. So there
was the risk that the second caisson would be lost by being
washed away from the sill.
That is why the top of the first caisson was partly removed
and replaced by steel sliding gates, made of sheet piles. These
gates were operated by winches. After the caisson had been
sunk with raised sliding gates the water could rush in and
out, which reduced the current velocity. Then the second
caisson could be ballasted and consolidated, after it had been
positioned with a smaller difference in water level than would
have been the case if the gates were closed . After both caissons
had been consolidated the closure could be completed by
lowering the sliding gates and finishing the dam .
The closure of the Zandkreek was one of the first Delta
projects . This was a rather quiet closure, because it was carried
our in a tidal divide area. 'Standard' caissons were sufficient
to make up both the abutment of the closing gap and to
build the closing dam. By now these caissons had acquired
their final shape (11 x 7-5 metres, 6 metres high) and were
mass-produced at a work site near the village Kats at Noord-
Beveland. At first the caissons were entirely casted at the work
site. However, casting quality concrete for rather thin walls
was difficult . For this reason, too, it was later decided to pre-
282 Man-made lowlands
fabricate the walls, and subsequently to join them together
at the connecting points by casting concrete . In order to use
these caissons on the somewhat deeper situated sills, so-called
top-pieces were made, two metres in height and with the
same horizontal diameter as the caissons themselves .
For the closure of the Zandkreek in 1960 both 'standard'
caissons and top-pieces were used . At a sill level of 5 m-NAP
this meant that each time after sinking at low tide the caissons
had to be filled up with sand immediately, and that the top-
pieces had to be put in place before the high water level was
reached . This was done with a floating crane . The last two
caissons were connected. As they were lying alongside the
crane they were turned against the prevailing current and
sunk against the caissons which had already been put in place .
During this manoeuvre the rate of flow decreased from 0.75 to
0 . 35 m/s. After positioning by means of two suction dredgers,
sand was spouted against the series of caissons for nine days
on end: 35,000 m 3/day .
The sluice-caissons
The dam across the Veerse Gat was the first large closure in
the framework of the Delta project . Actually this connected
the dune coasts ofWalcheren and Noord-Beveland . Therefore ,
the alignment could have been chosen more inland. In that
case the works would have run less risk for complications due
to the influence of the sea. However, this idea was abandoned
because the selected seawards location would provide valuabl e
experience for constructing the dams in the Brouwershavense
Gat and the Oosterschelde . Bearing in mind the size of these
works, such an experience was not a superfluous luxury, but
more a dire necessity.
The tidal volume amounted to about seventy million m 3
and necessitated a sealing method analogous to the one of th e
Enclosing Dam of the IJsselmeer or sluice-caissons had to be
used .
The experience gained in the closure of the Braakman had
increased confidence in the use of sluice-caissons and this led
to an intensive search for a practical type of caisson . At first
the idea was to modify the adjusted Phoenix-caissons . This
would be a box of which the long sides were provided with
flap gates or sliding gates . On this box there would be an
upper box or a bridge with winches to operate the flap gate s
or sliding gates. During the sinking of these floating sluices
onto a rough stone sill, it was possible that it was not com-
pletely supported. Due to this the material tensions could
become too strong, which could result in a crack. The caisson
-
might then be deformed in such a way that the valves or slid-
ing gates could no longer function properly .
Therefore, a caisson was required which was strong and
rigid enough lengthwise not to get seriously deformed. This
pointed in the direction of sidewalls that were higher and
stronger than was possible for a caisson consisting of a lower
trough formed beam only. At the same time the maximum
opening for the passage of water was required . The result was
a design of caisson with both an upper and lower beam . Only
the reinforcement and not the concrete had to be made for
the sidewalls to resist lateral pressures and to be an opening
for passage of water. However, there had to be grooves in the
walls . The caisson had to have bearing capacity in its middle
and on both ends, since the flat and horizontal finishing of
the stone sill could only be guaranteed up to a certain point.
So in the end, the design evolved into a caisson of 45 metres
long, 20 metres wide and 20 metres heigh, of which both
length walls consisted of steel barred girders, provided with
an upper and lower beam . The short walls, the head ends of
the caisson, were made of concrete and provided with ribs.
The upper edge functioned as a ballast trough to give the
caisson enough weight, after sinking and before closing, to
prevent it from sliding horizontally over the sill under the
influence of the difference in water levels. In the lower beam
The navigating of
the seventh and last caisson
in the Veerse Cat. The gates
of the caissons are open,
only the caisson that was
navigated has closed gates.
there were closed gangways that were opened during the
sinking.
Enough stability during floating, towing, and sinking, was
also a necessary condition for the further detailing of the
design. To this end, on the axis over the full length of the
lower trough beam, an anti-rolling bulkhead was constructed
which could be put in a horizontal position in sections after
sinking in order not to hamper the necessary passage of
water. Besides, good buoyancy of the caisson was, of course ,
essential and this meant that the sidewalls had to be water-
tight during transport. This was solved on one side by the
steel sliding gates in grooves that were already necessary for
the closure, and closing the other side temporarily with heavy
wooden bulkheads.
The seven sluice-caissons had been built in series in a near-
by small polder specially made for this. The polder had been
constructed as a building pit, which was drained .
The Veerse Gat was closed offby making dams from Noord-
Beveland and from Walcheren. The length of the closing gap
was well over 300 metres. The depth was 11 m-NAP. At both
sides of the gap the dam heads were protected by sinking
'standard' caissons. After this, a Phoenix-caisson was sunk in
the length of the flow at both ends .
First, a sill had to be made before it was possible to sink
Hydraulic engineering 283
sluice-caissons. This had not been built by means of the
classical sunken mattresses, but had been built up as a filter
construction . This was done by adding layers of increasingly
coarse gravel or rock of such thickness that the lower layer
could not be washed away through the hollows of the upper
layer, due to the effects of the passing current. Moreover, the
top layer of the sill had been made of rip -rap of such a size that
it would remain stable before closure, even at the strongest
currents.
By means of strong sea-going tug -boats the caissons were
towed to the closing gap and sunk just before the turn of the
ebb tide during neap tide. Each caisson was pushed against a
caisson already in position by the tug-boats . The caissons had
later on applied during the closure of the Volkerak and for
the northern part of the Brouwersdam. For these works
some improvements in the design of the caissons were made .
These were based on research in WL Delft Hydraulics. Also
towing and sinking tests were made in the Netherlands'
Naval Research Station (Marin) in Wageningen .
The cable-ways
Closing the coastal inlets in the southwest of the Nether-
lands, engineers were aware that the difficulties would in-
crease at every next closure. Roughly speaking, one could
say that the damming of the Brouwershavense Gat was three
times more complicated than the closure of the Veerse Gat.
Dumping stones For the Noord-Grevelingen it was decided to realise the
It was also decided to dam the Grevelingen with an alter- damming off with a cable-way with a number of self-propell-
native method . Here the gullies were in the neighbourhood ing cable-cars . Even if one or more cable-cars would happen
of a tidal divide area. This made the closure relatively easy, to break down, the operation as a whole would not come to
and for the Zuid-Grevelingen a process has been followed a standstill. This type of cable-way was developed by Neyrpic
according to that of the Zandkreek, namely by making use in Grenoble, and therefore this firm was commissioned to
of'standard' caissons. design and construct a modified prototype , in co-operation
fi :r
The scheme of the
closure of the Veerse Cat
standard caissons
with sluice-caissons. Both

-----
land abutments were formed
a number of ribs at their head ends, which fitted when they Once again, at the Oosterschelde, the difficulties were three by 'standard' caissons, to
were put in position. After that they were sunk, by opening times more complicated than those of the closure of the which a Phoenix-caisson was
the valves in the bottom. Afterwards, the space in between was Brouwershavense Gat. An additional complication was that
filled up with rip-rap. In addition, rock was dumped along the there were shallows in the mouth of the Oosterschelde, which
placed perpendicularly at
both sides. The remaining i
1
i
2 7
i i
6
i i
4
sidewalls to prevent underflow . At the same time the wooden had a subsoil of thick layers of(fine) sand, like those that opening was closed with seven
floating bulkheads were removed by tugs, the sliding gates caused bank slides elsewhere in Zeeland. If it were decided caissons, each with a length
j standard caissons

-~-
lifted and the anti-rolling bulkheads put in horizontal posi- to build dams on these shallows, there was the risk that , as of 45 metres. The placing of
tion. The ballast barges were filled up with sand and covered a result of shallow sliding , they would disappear into a deep the caissons was done from sinking of
1st caisson
with mine stone to enable traffic oflorries and machinery. gully. In order to be prepared for future problems, a new the outside to the inner side.
The last caisson was turned in like a large door against the ebb closure technique was tried out. By using an emergency During navigating the gates 2 0d

tide. After the last caisson had been sunk a space of about five bridge or a cable-way, a dam could be equally heightened by were closed. As soon as the
metres was left. This was filled up with rip -rap.
After the last caisson had been sunk on April 24 th 1961, the
dumping big stones. The reasoning behind this was that if caisson was placed, the gates 3' d
~~
m~
such a closure dam would slide it could be repaired on the were lifted so that through-
tidal current passed through the still open series of caissons spot. However, the piers of such a bridge or cable-way would flow was possible. Once all 4th
twice a day. Lowering the sliding gates on April 27 th sealed
the closing gap. Finally, the winches could be removed and
the dam with all the additional works could be completed.
have to be very deep. In this way the risk was not completely
taken away, but it was significantly reduced. In fact, the closing
of a gap with the use of cable-ways meant one had to make a
caissons were placed the
closure had been done in
three stages.
5th
~m
The sluice -caissons, as developed at the Veerse Gat, were dam by dumping horizontal layers. 6th
mm - ~mm
fia >
Cross-section of the
7th
m~ - ~~~~
sill on which the caissons in course rubble stone o.6 m
all gates open
~mm~~~m
the Veerse Cat were sunk. fine rubble stone o.6 m

aaaaaaa
--------
~- ~- ~-
gravel of the river Main 0.9 m all lower gates
On the sill there are several closed
gravel 0.9 m
layers of stone, with the finest nylon mat 75 m long upper-gates
partly closed
material at the bottom to
coarser material at the top.
all gates closed
Main gravel is gravel which
comes from the river Main.
I• I closed caisson

1 rm open caisson
I

- - ~ so_ m__ _. + -- 3~6- ---..- - ~40__ _.: ~ - - ~4_0 _ _ - - "-'

36:..____,.,_ __ ,!_C
so:...:
m
.'-'- __

284 Man-made lowlands Hydraulic engineering 285

•

A caisson is towed
to the northern closing gap
of the Haring~liet.
with Rijkswaterstaat. At this closure there was only a loading
station on one bank, so that loading could be tested but the
cable-way could only be in operation at half capacity. At the
same time, a net was developed with a bearing capacity for
stones up to 300 kg, which could be unloaded gradually by
lowering the net at one side .
Although it was to be expected that for next closures rip-
rap with a far higher piece-weight would be required, this
was not yet necessary for the Grevelingen and , in any case,
the development of such a net needed more time than was
available. The same held true for the method oflay'ing foun-
dations. Of the three pylons or bearing towers only one was
siruated in the water. Because there were no bank or dike
slidings here it was thought fit to found the middle pylon
on four 'standard' caissons and to sink them on a stone bed.
However, some water pressure metres were installer under -
neath these caissons in the bottom to be able to monitor the
process . Indeed situations have occurred, when the ca~le-way
was operating at full capacity, that the groundwater pressure
ran so high, that work had to be stopped for some hours to
avoid risks.
The closing dam could be cast at a steady pace, at an operat-
ing capacity of 160 tons/hour at the most, and thus the cable-
way installation had proved its worth. It goes without saying
that much data were gathered for the next type of cable-way,
for the very unfavourable proportion of the weight of a single
286 Man-made lowlands
T
cable-car (about 20 tons) to its useful weight (about 10 tons)
was problematic. The results with the cable-way were so good
that it was decided to apply it for the closing of the Haring-
vliet and the Brouwershavense Gar as well.
The dam of blocks
For the closing of the Haringvliet it was decided to use the
same cable-way as the one of the Grevelingen. This time new
cables were twisted to rule out all risks for this part of the
project. Moreover, foundations of a different kind were used :
a pit foundation with adapted counterweights for the loading
station and steel pylons or towers with joint parts made of
prestressed concrete . The foundations of these towers in the
gully were made in a similar way to the pile foundation of th e
Zeelandbrug. Thus the risk of a liquefaction flow was con-
trolled and it was a well-tried construction, which could be
used for the Brouwershavense Gar as well.
The use of new dumping material was important too. The
high current velocity demanded blocks or lumps of rock of
two to three tons . Storage and transport of such heavy rock
was problematic. For a year, experiments had been carried out
with blocks of concrete of about 1 m3, which had been pro-
vided with a loop or eye to make the transport easier. It had
been possible to design a block of concrete with a very coarse
gravel component and a low cement content of 75 kg/m 3. Its
shape was such that it could be piled up tightly and regularl y.
•
Thanl$.sto the fact that such a block had a low cement con-
tent, it had sufficient breaking strength so that it did not
split but just crumbled a bit. The idea was to prefabricate the
whole supply ofblocks at a factory and store them in order
to be able to try out this method of production , too . But the
contractor preferred a more traditional method of production
by casting layer after layer and increasing the cement content,
with a view to the processing of fresh concrete . A hoist with
four hooks was designed for the transport of the blocks
underneath the cable-ways . The mechanism was such that
the blocks were dropped one afrer another at short intervals.
In this way the cables would not oscillate too much . Well
over ninety thousand blocks in total were dumped to cast the
Enclosing Dam. However, 140,000 blocks had been fabricated
to have an ample supply. For the dam ofblocks might get a
wide profile under the influence of the force of the waves.
For the closure of the southern closing gap of the Brou,wers-
haven dam a number of improvements were made . First, the
blocks were manufactured in a continuous working plant and
th ey were improved . The cable-cars were improved as well.
Their weight was reduced to 15 tons, which meant that six
instead of four blocks could be transported in one go.
The experience that was obtained with the cable-ways and
the dumping ofblocks was so good that in view of any lique-
faction it was decided to close the three closing gaps of the
Oosterschelde by a gradual closure by means of three cable-
Emptying a net of stones.
ways that were to be built. The foundations had already been
partly laid when the decision was taken not to build a closed
dam, but an adjustable storm surge barrier.
Piers and gates in the Oosterschelde storm surge barrier
The storm surge barrier in the Oosterschelde is, from a
technical point of view, a verr special construction : a real
innovation which ten or twi nty years before was still con-
sidered a dangerous fantasy. Due to the fact that extensive soil
mechanical, hydraulic, morphological, statistical and con-
\
structional research had to be carried out, the completion of
the Delta project was delayed by many years .
Sliding gates had to be built which would be open in
normal circumstances, so that tidal currents could continue
to exist and, consequently, the tidal movement and the high
salinity of the former open estuary would be preserved . If the
level of the sea exceeded a certain level, the sliding gates would
be closed and remain closed as long as the abnormally high
levels continued. If the former regime was to remain entirely
intact, the total wet profile of the sluices had to be equal to
the original profile of8o,ooo m 2 over the full length of nine
kilometres, with an utmost gully depth of 35 metres. That
was neither technically nor financially feasible.
In the selected alignment with a length of nine kilometres
Hydraulic engineering 287

f1e..dO
Closing a closure gap using concrete blocks, which were
dumped by a cable-way
there were shallows, separated by gullies . In the gullies, of
which the greatest depth was about 30 metres, the construct-
ions with the moveble gates had to be placed .
Research was made in wet profiles of 11,500, 14,000 and
20,000 m 2 respectively . In case the profile was at its largest ,
only an insignificant decrease in the marine environment was
expected . However, problems with the smallest profile could
not be ruled out and once again a compromise was reached:
14,000 m 2 • Anyway, the largest profile would only have cost
f 160 million (€73 million ) more . A huge problem- the most
difficult one of the Zuiderzee and the Delta project - was the
design and the construction of the discharge sluices. Here
new and as yet untried techniques were used. In view of the
large total width of these sluices (2604 metres) th ey could not
be built according to the usual method in a building pit . It
was required to built the pillars of the sluices in a separate
dry-dock and to transport the pillars thereafter to the slu ice
complex . The dry-dock had a size of8oo x 1200 metres and a
depth of 15.2 m-NAP.By means of well pumping, a sufficiently
low water level was maintained in the dry dock.
Stable piers had to be designed between which the sliding
gates could move. Many possibilities were studied : caissons
built on different types of pile foundations, on plate founda-
tions, on pits, piers built on pits and so on . Eventually, pre-
assembled piers with wide and hollow bases were chosen . The
base of the piers was 25 x 50 metres and therefore they exerted
a low pressure on the subsoil.
The height of them varied from 30.25 to 38.75 metres with a
288 Man-made lowlands
vessels were purpose-built for these activities , such as the
Cardi um that was used to position mattresses and remove
sand. On th is vessel a wheel was made with a diameter of
16 metres and a width of 65 metres on which the mattresses
were hoisted up . When the vessel moved into position, the
mattress lowered into the water and covered the bottom .
Conclusion
Through the development ofhydraulic engineering in
the nineteenth and twentieth centuries it became possible
to protect Laag-Nederland against the danger of flooding in
an unprecedented way. By the introduction and perfection of
electrical pumping waterlogging occurred only occasionally.
view to the differences in depth of the gullies they had to be sizes, block mattresses, and concrete lining of the seabed. This This evolution was made possible by the progress of techni-
placed in . The tallest pier had a weight of 18,000 tons, which protection was carried out over a width of 100 metres on both que in the whole western world . It has been to the merit of
was the same as the weight of a large ocean steamer. sides of the axis of the construction . Then the foot of each pile Dutch engineers that they used this international technical
After the piers were made, the dry dock was filled with was embedded in a stone underwater sill. development in bringing the Netherlands hydraulic engin-
water and the piers could be lifted one by one and be trans- In addition to the spectacular colossus Ostrea, some more eering to perfection. • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
ported to their places and be placed on the sill. This happene d
with the purpose-built hoisting and transport vessel, the
Ostrea. As the piers partly hung in the water , the bearing
capacity of the vessel could be limited to 10,000 tons for the
transport of an 18,000 tons pier.
After the positioning, which had to be done very accuratel y,
the piers were connected by a sill beam - sill of the sluice gat e -
and an upper beam. Finally, 62 sliding gates with a length of
42 metres each were placed . The exact dimensions of these
three elements were only determined after the piers had been
positioned .
During the building of the pillars large-scale preliminary
works were carried out to the bottom of the gullies on whic h
the piers were to be placed . These provisions served to increase
the bearing capacity of the poor subsoil and to protect the
bottom against scouring out due to the continuing tidal cur-
rents. In order to increase the bearing capacity, shallow soil
consolidation was carried out by means of a trench, and the
subsoil was compacted to a depth of 18 metres and a width
of 40 metres on both sides of the axis of the construction . A
purpose-made vessel to compact the soil was built: the Mytilus
with four vibrating needles with a length of 37 metres each
and a weight of 40 tons with fins at the ends. The needles'
tamping and vibrating caused compaction of the soil.
The prevention of scouring out was achieved by a comple x
system of mattresses , rock layers with boulders of different
Hydraulic engineering 289