Voormalige schutsluis

English translation

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Description

Introduction.

Former LOCK in the Drainage Canal at the location of the road from Helden to Neer, the present-day Heideweg.

In 1854 the Minister of Internal Affairs instructed the State Water Board in the Duchy of Limburg to design two locks in the Drainage Canal. In the westernmost canal section near the Noordervaart lies the second lock. Following the design drawings of the State Water Board from 1859, contractor J.L. Baudrihaye built both locks for f 45,000.--. The locks were put into service in 1861.

In the period 1884-1886 the originally wooden lock walls were demolished and newly built in stone. This work was carried out for f 40,780 by contractor E. Coppes from Venlo. Since 1932, when the canal was closed to shipping, the lock has no longer been used as such. The lock gates have since disappeared. In the recesses of the upper lock head there is now a small weir that provides the necessary drainage. For a small lock of little-frequented shipping traffic, the design and execution are quite remarkable.

Description.

Former single-acting lock, consisting of approximately rectangular upper and lower lock heads with a passage width of 5.5 metres and a 40-metre-long lock chamber. The lock was originally intended to bridge a ground level difference of 4 metres. The chamber, in those days usually rectangular in design, was given an entirely oval-shaped ground plan. For a small lock of little-frequented shipping traffic, the design and execution are quite remarkable.

The quay walls and extensively built wing walls of the lock heads are entirely constructed of brickwork in Flemish bond with partial use of hard stone for vulnerable points such as the corners, for the strike jambs and striking thresholds of the gates, for the gate frame jambs and for the coping stones sealing off the walls. In each lock head there was a single swing gate; the remaining iron hinge rings recall this. The use of single swing gates in this lock is remarkable, as with passage widths of more than four metres, sector gates (double door) were normally used. In the side positions are the door recesses hollowed out in the lock structure where the doors could rest in the open position. In relation to the turning radius of the door, the opposite quay wall is constructed somewhat curved. Furthermore, the lock heads are provided with several recesses for closure planks or slides. With these the lock can be drained in case of any necessary maintenance work.

The oval-shaped, deeply-founded lock chamber walls are constructed of basalt stone, which is quite unusual for this purpose. The sixty-centimetre-long basalt blocks are laid header-wise. The upper edges are sealed with hard stone coping stones. In the chamber walls there are various hauling pockets. These are hollowed-out blocks of natural stone built into the wall with a hauling pin to keep the ships in place during locking. In the southern chamber wall is the original iron lock stair, recessed into the wall.

Assessment.

The former lock is of general importance.

The object has cultural-historical values because of its direct relationship with the reclamation and socio-economic development of the Peel area and the directly surrounding municipalities. As part of the Drainage Canal between the Noordervaart and the Maas, which as a spatial structure already constitutes a historical element, the object is a particular expression of the historical infrastructure and the related development of the transport sector in the Limburgian Peel area. From an industrial-archaeological perspective, the object is important for the typological development of single-acting lock gates.

The object has hydraulic engineering-historical values because of its design and execution. These are quite remarkable for a small lock of little-frequented shipping traffic.

The object has ensemble values as an essential component of a recognisably preserved historical hydraulic engineering ensemble along and at the Drainage Canal. Particularly the direct historical-spatial relationship with the nearby lock-keeper's dwelling is illustrative of this.

The object possesses great hydraulic engineering-historical and typological rarity value in Limburg, but also beyond, since the present object occurs only rarely and the specifically applied combination of basalt-stone chamber walls, an oval-shaped lock chamber and (originally) single gates in relatively wide lock heads is exceptional both locally and nationally.