Fort, vesting en -onderdelen, Batterij a/d Overeindseweg met inundatiekanaal/annexe werken Nieuwegein

English translation

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Description

Cluster 52. Bridge.

NEW HOLLAND WATER LINE

Introduction

BRIDGE over inundation canal as in 1871 added to the defensive work Batteries at the Overeindseweg and later modernised hydraulic engineering component. The raising or removal / destruction of bridges has since antiquity been a proven means of warding off intruders. Not only was the passage or crossing over a watercourse, a dry or wet ditch or a terrain depression thus impeded or delayed, but an attacker also had to provide themselves with means to potentially take the barrier themselves. 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 an explosive charge could sometimes quickly achieve 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 the utmost necessity. (Iron) bridges could be closed by removing or otherwise making (small) parts of them inaccessible. The wooden bridge over the inundation canal is a more modern execution of a model created more than once before. The bridge served a civil purpose under normal circumstances.

Description

Built in 1871 and later modernised, relatively long BRIDGE in the Overeindseweg (approx. 20 x 5 m) on the south side of the Overeindse Wetering, with a wooden deck fitted with an asphalt wearing surface and narrow pavements on both sides, flanked by railings of iron pipes; resting on three brick plinths with concrete coping blocks added later and brick abutments with wings on both sides with concrete coping blocks added later.

Valuation

The BRIDGE in the Overeindseweg and forming part of the Battery at the Overeindseweg is of general interest because of:

* Cultural historical values as part of the New Holland Water Line as designed by C.R.T. Kraijenhoff and initially realised 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 military-strategic architecture, which was based on and arose as a result of: a. the system of inundation and access defence (19th century), b. the race with increasingly powerful offensive means (19th century).

This concerns here an expression of historical hydraulic engineering related to military-strategic architecture, namely a bridge for military and civil purposes.

* Ensemble value and situational values as part of the New Holland Water Line. Also because 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 a long version of this type of bridge.

* The component is fairly intact in form because essential components are recognisable in form and function.