Fort, vesting en -onderdelen, Vossegatsedijk 3

English translation

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Description

Cluster 40.

Introduction

SHELTER TYPE 1915-1916 / I as part of linear and access defence based on trench systems, covered ways and similar. (Concrete) (group) shelters formed an answer to the advent of heavy projectiles and high-explosive grenades. These latter have a high-explosive charge and caused a rain of metal splinters, which could cause many casualties. According to the weight of the grenade and the protection against it, there is a classification into resistance or protection classes, formed by two numbers, e.g. W 12-15. The first indicates that the protection is sufficient for impacts of projectiles up to that calibre (in cm); the second that there is also protection against one or at most a few impacts up to this higher calibre. The earliest types of (group) shelters offered only protection against grenade splinters and were called 'splinter-free'. From the beginning of the 20th century, experiments were conducted with deconcentrated, small (concrete) (group) shelters. In this case, sometimes ad hoc use was made of existing, available materials such as railway rails, rubble, wooden beams and concrete slabs, but besides this prefabricated components were assembled or concrete was poured on site. Thus, on several locations within the Nieuwe Hollandse Waterlinie, various - whether or not unique - traces of such experiments in concrete can still be found. In the complex 'Fort bij Rijnauwen' different forms of (early concrete) shelters occur, from the years 1914-1918, including some rare examples. A number of examples from the years 1914-1918 show clear traces of experiments with prefab elements. This is most evident in some types that are composed of interlocked, identical segments.

Description

SHELTER TYPE 1915-1916 / I, located in the north-eastern part of Fort bij Rijnauwen. This type consists of separate, prefabricated, reinforced concrete, rectangular trapezoidal segments, which are connected to each other by means of rods. The segments are several tens of centimetres wide and are provided on the inside with iron rings by which they were connected and held together via cables or pull rods. With this system the shelters could be built to any desired length. The number of entrances - simple rectangular recesses in which doors could be hung - could also be varied; this was done by placing concrete intermediate elements. None of the doors are still present. The iron reinforcement and the concrete itself were initially quite weak, as a result of which the protection proved insufficient. In later versions this was improved, but the system remained, despite the applied earth covering, vulnerable. The covering was at most splinter-free.

Valuation

SHELTER TYPE 1915-1916 / I is of general interest because of:

* Cultural-historical values as part of the Nieuwe Hollandse Waterlinie as designed by C.R.T. Krayenhoff and initially realized from 1815 by him, Jan Blanken and major-engineer Willem Offerhaus and subsequently strengthened and improved by others for approximately 125 years.

* Military-historical values as part of a continuous military defence line between the former Zuiderzee and the Biesbosch. This consisted mainly of a coherent system of inundation fields and associated inundation means and of fields of fire. This system was supplemented with various, dating from different periods, built or laid out (defence) works that served to or contributed to the closure of non-inundatable areas or other accesses.

* Architectural-historical values, in particular as an expression of military-strategic building, which is based on: - the system of inundation and access defence (19th and 20th century), - the race with increasingly strengthening offensive means (19th and 20th century)

This concerns a component from the period 1914-1918. This component is an example of a splinter-free shelter executed in prefabricated concrete and steel.

* Ensemble value and situational values as part of the Nieuwe Hollandse Waterlinie. Also because of the functional and physical coherence with the other components of the complex.

* The component is rare as an early example of military concrete experiments and representative (characteristic) because it is clearly recognizable as part of a deconcentrated defence line added to the existing fortification system.

* The component is reasonably well preserved and can still be recognized as a built component.