Fort, vesting en -onderdelen, Vossegatsedijk 3

English translation

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Description

Cluster 40.

Introduction

BRIDGE 1 over the inner moat of the Fort bij Rijnauwen as access to the fort complex. The bridge lies in the western extension of the entrance gate to Guard Building 2. The raising or removal / destruction of bridges has been a tried and tested means of warding off intruders since ancient times. Not only was passage or crossing over a watercourse, a dry or wet moat or a terrain depression hindered or delayed, but an attacker also had to provide his own means to possibly overcome the barrier. Wooden bridges were relatively quick to destroy, if necessary by setting them on fire. Stone and concrete bridges required a greater and more time-consuming intervention, although an explosive charge could sometimes quickly achieve the desired effect. With the advent of iron bridges - applied on a large scale in many variants in the course of the 19th century - the second possibility remained, but the first disappeared. Blowing up bridges was capital destruction and happened only in the most extreme necessity. One way in which iron bridges could be closed was by removing or making inaccessible (small) parts of them. The Fort bij Rijnauwen, as the largest fort of the Nieuwe Hollandse Waterlinie - including a redoubt that could if necessary be defended separately - had traditionally been provided with four bridges: three bridges over the inner moat near both guard buildings and in the extension of the cut to the redoubt, and as a fourth a bridge for access to the Redoubt itself. Of these connections over the moats, only the bridge at Guard Building 2 and the bridge to the Redoubt remain, both substantially restored.

Description

BRIDGE 1, which now provides access to the fort complex as a connection between the banks of the inner moat. The fixed iron bridge forms part of the original construction of the fort and dates from approximately 1870. The approximately 4 m wide bridge has been restored using as much authentic material as possible and rests on mortared and partly natural stone piers. The wooden bridge deck rests on closed iron girders. On either side of the bridge deck fixed iron railings approximately 1.00 m high, which are divided into equal bays by means of diagonally connected uprights.

Valuation

BRIDGE 1 of the Fort bij Rijnauwen is of general importance on account of:

* Cultural-historical values as part of the Nieuwe Hollandse Waterlinie as designed by C.R.T. Kraijenhoff and first constructed from 1815 by him, Jan Blanken and major-engineer Willem Offerhaus and subsequently strengthened and improved by others over 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 facilities and shooting fields. This system was supplemented with various types of built or constructed (defence) works dating from different periods which served to or contributed to the closure of non-inundatable terrain or other accesses.

* Architectural-historical values, in particular as an expression of military-strategic building craft, which is based on and originated as a consequence of - the system of inundation and access defence (19th century) and - the arms race with increasingly strengthened offensive means (19th century).

This concerns a component dating from approximately 1870, namely an expression related to military-strategic building craft of historical water engineering, in the form of a fixed bank connection for military purposes.

* Ensemble value and situational values as part of the Nieuwe Hollandse Waterlinie, as well as on account of the functional and physical coherence with the other components of the complex.

* The component is representative (characteristic) because it is a good example of the application of this type of bridge in a military situation.

* The component is reasonably well preserved because, although it has been thoroughly restored structurally, essential elements have been maintained in situ and have been reused.