Fort, vesting en -onderdelen, Vossegatsedijk 3

English translation

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Description

Cluster 40.

Introduction

BRIDGE 2 over the remnant of the redoubt ditch of the Fort bij Rijnauwen as access to the redoubt. The bridge lies in the western extension of the access gate to the redoubt. The raising or removal / destruction of bridges has been a proven means since antiquity to ward off intruders. Not only was the passage or crossing over a watercourse, a dry or wet ditch or a terrain depression obstructed or delayed, but an attacker also had to provide means to take the barrier themselves if necessary. Wooden bridges were relatively quick to destroy, if necessary by setting them alight. Stone and concrete bridges required a larger and more time-consuming intervention, although a 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 dire 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 - was from old provided with a set of four bridges: three bridges over the inner ditch near both guardhouses and in the extension of the curtain to the redoubt and as a fourth a bridge for access to the redoubt itself. Of these connections over the ditches, only the bridge at guardhouse 2 and the bridge to the redoubt remain.

Description

BRIDGE 2, over the remnant of the redoubt ditch and from old the access to the redoubt. The fixed iron bridge forms part of the original construction of the fort and dates from around 1870. The approximately 4 m wide bridge is partly restored on the basis of existing material and rests on masoned and partly natural stone abutments and piers. The wooden bridge deck rests on closed iron beams.

Valuation

BRIDGE 2 of the Fort bij Rijnauwen is of general importance by reason of:

* Cultural-historical values as part of the Nieuwe Hollandse Waterlinie as designed by C.R.T. Kraijenhoff and in initial construction from 1815 by him, Jan Blanken and major-engineer Willem Offerhaus and subsequently by others over approximately 125 years was reinforced and improved.

* Military-historical values as part of a continuous military defensive 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 types of built or constructed (defensive) works dating from different periods that served or contributed to the closure of non-inundable terrain or other accesses.

* Architectural-historical values in particular as an expression of military-strategic architecture, which was based on and arose as a consequence of: - the system of inundation and access defence (19th century) and - the competition with increasingly powerful offensive means (19th century).

This concerns here a component from approximately 1870, namely an expression of historical waterworks related to military-strategic architecture in the form of a fixed shore connection for military purposes.

* Ensemble value and situational values as part of the Nieuwe Hollandse Waterlinie, as well as by reason 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.