Bomvrij militair object, Gedekte Gemeenschapsweg met Inundatiekanaal Houten

English translation

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Description

Cluster 58. Shelters 1902-1903.

NEW HOLLAND WATERLINE

Introduction

Four SHELTERS 1900-1910, executed in (steel-reinforced) concrete, as components of linear and access defence based on trench systems, covered roads and the like. (Concrete) shelters were a response to the arrival of heavy projectiles, high-explosive grenades with detonating charges. Depending on the weight of the grenade and the protection against it, a classification in resistance or protection classes was established in 1928, consisting of two figures, e.g. W 12-15. The first indicates that the covering is sufficient for impacts of projectiles up to that calibre (in cm); the second that protection also exists against one or at most a few impacts up to this higher calibre. The earliest types of shelters - including these specimens - offered only protection against grenade fragments and were called 'shrapnel-proof'. From the beginning of the 20th century, experiments were carried out with deconcentrated, small (concrete) (group) shelters. In this, ad hoc use was sometimes made of existing available materials such as railway rails, rubble, wooden beams and concrete slabs, but alongside this prefabricated components were assembled or concrete was poured on site. Thus, on various sites within the New Holland Waterline, various - whether or not unique - traces of such experiments in concrete can still be found. Sometimes they were called shelters, but also gun emplacement shelters. In the complex Covered Communal Road, with Inundation Canal, various forms of (early concrete) shelters occur, some from the period 1902-1903 and others from the years 1914-1918. None of them belongs to the known and common types 1918/I or 1918/II and their rarity is much greater. The quartet of specimens dating from the period 1902-1903 (also provided with magazines), are moreover still fairly traditional in appearance and conform to the late 19th-century typology of defensive works.

Description

Four SHELTERS 1900-1910, which are located in multiple places in the western slope of the earthen bank along the Inundation Canal. The shelters (with magazines) date from the period 1902-1903. Two specimens are virtually identical, namely the northernmost along the bank and one specimen approximately halfway along the bank. These two structures are surrounded on three sides by earthworks, while the roof is also covered by earth. The entirely flat, straight-ended, in some cases symmetrically executed, concrete west facades are provided with an arched access opening, in which a steel door with heavy hinges. Left and right smaller, arched facade openings, which are closed by means of double steel shutters with heavy hinges. The steel doors and shutters are painted dark green. A third - likewise virtually identical specimen - close to the access to the Lunet at the Snel is only partly covered by earth; this specimen is heavily damaged on the south side and shows there the application of used railway rails from 1879 in the flat roof construction. A steel door and steel shutters are missing here. The interior shows otherwise an empty, rectangular space. A fourth, slightly further back towards the north specimen is smaller; besides the access opening (left) it contains only one other facade opening. Here too the steel door and shutter are missing. The interior again shows an empty, rectangular space, the roof of which is also reinforced here with railway rails. Remarkable about this specimen is a right-angled, sloping wing wall / retaining wall, to the left of the access.

Valuation

The SHELTERS 1900-1910 in the complex Covered Communal Road, with Inundation Canal are of general importance because of:

* Cultural-historical values as part of the New Holland Waterline 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 building, which is based on: a. the system of inundation and access defence (19th and 20th century), b. the race with increasingly strengthened offensive means (19th and 20th century).

These are components from the period 1900-1910. These components are examples of shelters executed in concrete and steel from the years 1902-1903.

* Ensemble value and situational values as part of the New Holland Waterline. Also because of the functional and physical coherence with the other components of the complex.

* The components are representative (characteristic) because they are clearly recognisable as part of a deconcentrated defence line added to the existing fortification system.

* The components are largely intact and can still be recognised as built elements in situ.