With the majority of the country below sea level, the Dutch created the greatest sea dyke system on the planet

The Netherlands is known to be the lowest lying country compared to sea level. The lowest area is below sea level to 6.74m which is a small town in the city of Rotterdam .

The country's English name itself " The Netherlands " also means " Lowlands ". In addition, statistics show that two-thirds of the country's area is located in flood-prone areas, while population density is among the most populous.
This feature has repeatedly caused the Netherlands to experience horrific disasters. The highest peak was in February 1953, the high tide surged due to the impact of a storm devastated almost entirely the southern coast.

Much of the Netherlands is at risk of flooding.

More than 200,000 hectares of farmland were flooded , 1,835 people drowned. Also from this disaster revealed the biggest weakness in the system of Dutch seawater defense works.
Therefore, the Dutch government immediately established the European Commission to repair and construct anti-marine defense works.

Wonders of the sea dike

After a period of field research, the Commission of the country launched a plan to build buildings with great stature and scale. That is the system of sea ​​dykes, sea dykes , sluice gates and flood gates in the Southwest region.
In total, there are 65 giant concrete casting breakwaters and 62 mobile steel valve gates suspended between the dykes with a total length of 6.8 km.

The dyke system extends to the sea.

It is known that the gates are 5m thick and 40m wide, varying from an altitude of 6m to 12m depending on their position in the dam. The largest valve located in the deepest part of the delta, weighing up to 480 tons, takes an hour to open or close the valve.
These structures were built during more than half a century to protect large areas of the delta in the wake of sea attack. This is also recognized as the only protection system against variable waves in the world of this type.

Even with pyramids in Egypt, the Manche Strait tunnel, the Panama Canal, the Colosseum . The sea dyke system in the Netherlands was voted one of the world's architects. The 10 greatest buildings on the planet.

Windmills build along the canals to increase drainage.

Today, thanks to modern technology, the Netherlands also creates mobile dams to increase the efficiency of flood prevention but still ensures waterway trade.

Or recently, Dutch experts are studying and implementing projects to build " smart breakwaters " by integrating touch technology to monitor dikes and dams to show scenes. Early warning about the risk of sea water destruction due to climate change .

Accordingly, Dutch experts and irrigation scientists are experimenting with attaching chips to the dike and dam bodies for the purpose of early detection and warning of tsunamis and sea ​​level rise .

Finally, in the worst case, which means that the sea level rises too fast, the water pumping system is broken, with the Dutch terrain, within a week, the whole Dutch territory will be submerged in water. Therefore, Dutch people are highly aware of this potential danger.

Children in the Netherlands learn to swim from a young age and to get " by swimming " they have to undergo a 30-minute water pedal test, identify an underwater obstacle, then swim 100m.

Windmills - savior of the Netherlands

It was not by accident that the windmill became a symbol of the Netherlands. If, as early as the 10th century, the Dutch thought of treating water by embankment, then 400 years later, they realized the miraculous effect of windmills in the fight to regain land.

Windmills appear everywhere in the Netherlands. The presence of windmills is more dense in low-lying areas.

Initially, the windmill was made of stone, then improved with lighter materials like wood. The powerful blades, tens of meters long of the windmill, convey the force of the wind onto the big wooden wheels to pour water into the river.

In addition, windmills are also built along the canals to increase drainage capacity.

Today, windmills have no longer played a major role in the Dutch drainage process. People use diesel fuel pumps and electric pumps to push water downstream. However, windmills are always the pride and indispensable feature of the Netherlands.

In general, because of being aware that the coastal state, which has many areas below sea level and the lowland areas that are often flooded, the Dutch became the world's leading experts on marine measures.

Now the whole world admires the Dutch country with the open space, tuylip flower fields, windmills and ancient mansion buildings along the canals covering the whole country.

The Dutch are always proud that: "The Lord created the world, but it was the Dutch that created the Netherlands ".