Fort, vesting en -onderdelen, Fort Jutphaas bij 3

English translation

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Description

Cluster 50. Access bridge.

NEW HOLLAND WATERLINE

COMPLEX FORT AT JUTPHAAS

Introduction

ACCESS BRIDGE of the Fort at Jutphaas as the means of access to the fort grounds and located on the southwestern side of the guardhouse. The raising or removal / destruction of bridges has been a tried and tested means of repelling intruders since antiquity. Not only did this impede or delay passage or crossing over a watercourse, a dry or wet ditch or a terrain depression, but also the attacker had to provide means to possibly overcome the barrier himself. Wooden bridges were relatively quick to destroy, if necessary by setting them on fire. Stone and concrete bridges required a larger and more time-consuming intervention, although a demolition charge could sometimes quickly produce the desired effect. With the advent of iron bridges - applied on a large scale in the course of the 19th century in many different variants - the second possibility remained, but the first disappeared. Blowing up bridges was capital destruction and only happened in extreme necessity. One way in which iron bridges could be sealed off was the removal or making inaccessible of (small) parts of them. The access bridge of the Fort at Jutphaas is constructed as an iron bridge on heavy wooden stringers, which at approximately two-thirds is provided with an equally iron railing. The bridge is still in use and has therefore also been restored. The predecessor was provided with a centrally located, removable section. Access to the guardhouse proceeded, until the associated ditch was filled in, via a second, smaller bridge, on the north side of the guardhouse, which no longer exists.

Description

The ACCESS BRIDGE of the Fort at Jutphaas lies slightly to the southwest of the guardhouse and has long connected the southern half of the fort island, across the ditch, with the mainland. The bridge rests on masonry abutments on either side and has three wooden stringers between them. The length is approximately 15 m and the width is approximately 3.50 m. The bridge deck consists of wooden planks; wrought-iron railings are attached on either side, which are divided into 12 bays, each provided with diagonals in honeycomb structure. On the land side three bays are angled more widely. Between the 9th and 10th bay a pointed railing in profile steel is attached above a stringer, which protrudes outside the bridge.

Valuation

The ACCESS BRIDGE of the Fort at Jutphaas is of general importance because of:

* Cultural-historical values as part of the New Holland Waterline as designed by C.R.T. Kraijenhoff and initially constructed from 1815 by him, Jan Blanken and major-engineer Willem Offerhaus and subsequently strengthened and improved by others for approximately 125 years.

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

This concerns a component that is an example of a bridge as access to the fort, but which was originally the first of two water obstacles to be overcome.

* Ensemble value and situational values because of its location within the system of the New Holland Waterline in general and in particular in direct relation to other components of the complex.

* The component is representative (characteristic) because it is clearly recognizable as a 19th-century bridge.

* The component is well preserved because it - also through restoration and maintenance - still clearly displays the physical and functional characteristics that gave rise to its construction at the time.