Bomvrij militair object, Werk aan de Groeneweg Houten

English translation

The text above is the record as published by the Rijksdienst voor het Cultureel Erfgoed, in Dutch. The English below is a machine translation made by TreeAlive, not by the Rijksdienst voor het Cultureel Erfgoed; it has not been checked by a person. Where the two differ, the original is the record. Report a translation error: privacy@treealive.com

Description

Cluster 62. Shelters type 1918/I.

NIEUWE HOLLANDSE WATERLINIE

Introduction

SHELTERS TYPE 1918/I as part of linear and access defence with trench systems and similar. (Concrete) (group) shelters formed a response to the advent of heavy projectiles and high-explosive grenades. The latter have a high-explosive charge. Depending on the weight of the grenade and the protection against it, since 1928 there has been a classification into resistance or cover classes, consisting of two numbers, e.g. W 12-15. The first indicates that the cover 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 offered only protection against grenade fragments and were called 'splinter-proof'. Shelters Type 1918/I and Type 1918/II were built in 1918 in multiple locations in the Nieuwe Hollandse Waterlinie and the Stelling van Amsterdam according to a more or less uniform or standard design. The total number of built examples in the Nieuwe Hollandse Waterlinie amounts to approximately 225; the majority (approx. 165) of these still exist. The largest concentration of shelters Type 1918/I and /II is located on the Houtense Vlakte, where 147 were realised. Shelter Type 1918/I (approx. 125 units) was mostly built at the front of double trench systems. Shelter Type 1918/II (approx. 100 units) was mostly built along the rear trench. Because the trenches and other earthworks were subsequently levelled almost everywhere, the (entrances of the) concrete shelters nowadays often lie partly below ground level. The front side of the shelters, which had always been completely closed, was usually entirely covered by earthworks that formed part of a glacis for the protection of the trench or of a covered way. These earthworks are now mostly no longer present or barely recognisable. In a number of cases the earthing on the front side or the flank was deliberately (only partly) removed or newly applied in the years 1936-1938 to convert the then 20-year-old shelters Type 1918/I and 1918/II into machine-gun emplacements. There are dozens of such converted examples in the Nieuwe Hollandse Waterlinie. Variants of Types 1918/I and 1918/II exist, which can be recognised among other things in the slope angle of the gorge side and through differently executed entrance openings. Particular to the examples at the Werk aan de Groeneweg is that most of them still remain under an earth cover and / or lie in the water of former trenches and terrain unevenness.

Description

SHELTERS TYPE 1918/I are single-storey, usually executed in approx. 100 cm thick reinforced cast concrete, grenade-proof, military shelters, which could provide shelter for 8 men of infantry / artillery, at cover class W 15-21. The shelters 1918/I are built on a rectangular floor plan, with dimensions of approximately 5.00 x 5.50 x 3.70 m, (w x d x h), of which the base is rarely visible. The visible height above ground level varies, but amounts at the highest point to 1.50 to 2.50 m. The two blind side gables and the closed front / front side are executed vertically, to transition with a sharp angle into the roof plane sloping slightly backwards. This roof plane descends after a blunt angle at a slope of approximately 45° towards the often not, or only partly visible, low, vertical gable on the gorge side. A variant of Type 1918/I knows here a less steep slope. In a number of cases iron hooks were cast into the gables which could serve to attach camouflage material. Shelters Type 1918/I are constructed as monolithic concrete structures and were only accessible via one entrance opening, on the trench side - the gorge side. These eccentric, right-positioned entrances in the gable are surrounded by a thickened concrete frame, which is arranged in the same plane as the rear, sloping roof plane. Variations occur in these frames, among other things with a strengthening at the top. The low-executed entrances were later mostly sealed off by means of masonry or concrete, but examples filled with rubble also occur. In a few cases the shelters are still open or have been reopened. (Remains of) doors or shutters have not been found and are in any case extremely rare; there are, however, still iron hooks in the ceilings near the entrances, in which iron shutters could be hung. In a number of cases an extra gable opening was made in the years 1936-1938 at the front, at an angle or to the side to serve as a firing port for a machine-gun. With this, the function of such a work changed from shelter to that of machine-gun emplacement. The interior of shelters Type 1918/I consists of a rectangular space, lying approximately half below the current ground level, which in a crouching position is accessible via the concrete stairway of a few steps located in the corner. The ceilings, located at approximately two metres above floor level, approximately one metre thick, curve slightly away at the front. No example of Type 1918/I belonging to the Werk aan de Groeneweg has been visited internally.

Valuation

SHELTERS TYPE 1918/I are of general interest because of:

* Cultural-historical values as part of the Nieuwe Hollandse Waterlinie as designed by C.R.T. Kraijenhoff and initially realised from 1815 onwards 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 centuries), b. the race with ever-strengthening offensive means (19th and 20th centuries), c. the system of 'living' field fortification in depth (20th century).

These are components from the period 1914-1918. The components are examples of reinforced executed troop shelters.

* Ensemble value and situational values as part of the Nieuwe Hollandse Waterlinie. 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, forward-positioned defence line added to the existing fortification system.

* The components are fairly well preserved, albeit limited visible as structures, but precisely because of this can be recognised fairly well in situ.