The Netherlands' magnificent sea dikes can be seen from space

When talking about the Netherlands, people often think of the bravery and determination of the people here in overcoming tragedies caused by storms, floods and rising sea levels.

The 2000-year history of the Netherlands is 2000 years of fighting with the sea, with water. That fight lasted for many centuries, and today, this country has a modern sea dike system, including Zuiderzeewerken , voted by architects as one of the 10 greatest works on the planet.

Zuiderzee (South Sea) was formerly located inland and connected to the North Sea, 100km long, 50km wide, with an area of ​​about 5,000km2 ^, and water depth of 4 - 5m.

Immediately after the 1916 storm that broke many dikes, killed 16 people, flooded 300km2 ^causing huge economic damage, the Dutch government planned to close the bay with a dike called Afsluitdijk.

Building a dike in the middle of the sea, at the mouth of a bay, is an extremely labor-intensive and costly task, especially when the currents in this area are very complex.

Construction was carried out from four points, the basic dike foot was gradually expanded by driving piles, the Dutch scooped glacial clay blocks from the seabed and built them into two parallel rows as dike walls, then used ships to carry rocks, sand and clay to pour between the two walls.

Next, mechanical construction vehicles covered the dike surface and reinforced the foundation with basalt. At some particularly weak points with great depth, corresponding to the impact of strong tidal currents, Dutch experts had to take some special measures and perform additional reinforcement.

What is extraordinary is that the construction was carried out at the beginning of the last century, and in just 6 years, from 1927 to 1933.

The amount of materials used for Afsluitdijk is estimated at 23 million m3 ^of sand and 13.5 million m3 ^of cement, not counting the average of 4 - 5000 workers participating in the construction site every day.

90m wide, 32km long, 7.25m high above sea level, with 4 lanes on the dike, Afsluitdijk significantly shortens travel time from North Holland to Friesland.

This giant water control project has helped the Netherlands minimize the impact of the North Sea on fisheries and agriculture in the northern provinces. In addition, the Zuiderzeewerken project has helped the Netherlands gain an additional 1,650 square kilometers of residential and agricultural land.

The monument to the father of the project - engineer Cornelis Lely (1854 - 1929) does not face the sea, but towards the Ijsselmeer lake. The capital city of Flevoland was named Lelystad - the name of the chief engineer of the Zuider Works project (Cornelis Lely), in recognition of his work and contributions.

Not far away is a monument to the men who laid each stone of this admirable structure. It is a bronze and concrete monument depicting a worker, with cracks on his body, bending over to lift a stone.

From space, the Afsluitdijk sea dike can be seen - a carefully calculated project and a scientific and technological achievement of mankind.