Fort, vesting en -onderdelen, Betonnen werken tussen 't Werk by Maarsseveen/Fort Tienhoven Maarssen (Stichtse Vecht 26)

English translation

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Description

Cluster 22. Outfall, Intake and Check Sluice.

NEW HOLLANDIC WATER LINE

Introduction

Small OUTFALL, INTAKE AND CHECK SLUICE at the mouth of the Machinekade into the Vecht, intended as a combined civil and military water management component of the inundation works of the New Hollandic Water Line. The defence system of the New Hollandic Water Line was primarily based on the controlled flooding of (large) terrain areas. Controlled inundation required an ingenious system of water works, such as sluices, weirs and canals, by which the necessary water level could be set and maintained quickly and within narrow limits. Many different types of sluices were used, depending on the location where they functioned in the system. Sometimes already existing navigation, outfall or check sluices were used, but many new ones were also built or existing ones were (considerably) adapted. Sometimes local level differences between individual polder units had to be bridged by incorporating or using check sluices in existing quays or dykes. For this purpose, shutter-board barriers in ditches or even in coupures in quays were often used, but so-called spillways with wooden or iron lifting gates or culverts with slides were also used for this purpose. The sluice at the mouth of the drainage canal of the Bethune polder into the Vecht is located at the bridge in the Zandpad (the dyke along the east bank of the Vecht) and formed the closable barrier of the canal. Sluice and canal form the drainage of the former steam pumping station, now diesel pumping station Bethune polder, which pumped and pumps the former Tienhoven and Maarsseveen Polder (now Bethune polder). Around 1880, attempts were made to dry out this peaty and flooded polder, something that had to be rendered void in the event of necessary inundation of the area.

Description

OUTFALL, INTAKE AND CHECK SLUICE forming the connection between the river Vecht and the drainage canal / fore-reservoir of the Bethune polder. The sluice lies beneath a bridge in the Zandweg; the 'lock chamber' is at right angles to the Vecht and faces westward, but directly east of it the drainage canal makes a bend. The sluice, provided with wing walls, possibly dates in origin from the 17th century, but was upgraded somewhat at the end of the 19th century to perform a function within the New Hollandic Water Line. This was partly related to attempts to establish the Tienhoven and Maarsseveen Reclamation. In 1896, among other things, (additional) shutter-board slots were installed, which after possible water intake and placement of shutter-boards could contribute to the barrier against inundation water. The brick sluice further comprises a set of pointed gates opening towards the Vecht and in both abutments a closable iron pit for positioning davits for hoisting and lowering shutter-boards.

Valuation

The OUTFALL, INTAKE AND CHECK SLUICE at the mouth of the drainage canal / fore-reservoir of the Bethune polder in the Vecht is of general importance because of:

* Cultural-historical values as a component of the New Hollandic Water Line as designed by C.R.T. Kraijenhoff and initially built from 1815 by him, Jan Blanken and major-engineer Willem Offerhaus and subsequently strengthened and improved by others over approximately 125 years.

* Architectural-historical values, in particular as an expression of combined military-strategic and civil engineering, which is based on the system of inundation and access defence (19th century).

This concerns a possibly 17th-century dating sluice adapted in 1896 for use within the New Hollandic Water Line and related to civil engineering, namely a civil outfall sluice with a secondary military function serving the inundation system.

* Ensemble value and situational values as a component of the New Hollandic Water Line in general and because of the functional and physical coherence with the other components of the complex.

* The component is representative because it emphasizes and illustrates the application of (existing) sluice works in the functioning of the New Hollandic Water Line.

* The component is fairly well preserved because the main form, architectural detailing and various components have remained recognizable and functional.