Tankhindernis, Werk aan de Groeneweg

English translation

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Description

Cluster 62. Tank barrier.

NEW HOLLAND WATERLINE

Introduction

REMAINS OF A TANK BARRIER as a remnant of an obstacle against (armoured) vehicles installed shortly before the Second World War on and in the Achterdijk, which connected to inundation fields and ditch systems. The erection of obstacles to hinder or delay the advance of enemy troops has a long history. Important artificial obstacles have long included ditches, waterlines, felled trees and damaged bridges. With the advent of mechanical (such as the steam train) and motorised (armoured vehicles and tanks) means of transport, heavier materials have been deployed, including steel and (reinforced) concrete barriers. One of the systems applied from the mid-1930s onwards consisted of diagonally placed and pointed steel H-section beams, which not only greatly hindered the passage of such vehicles, but could also cause them severe damage. Such obstacles were composed of one (Type I) or two rows (Type II) of beams. Tank obstacles were usually constructed from interconnected systems of barriers, in which besides water (e.g. anti-tank ditches or inundations) concrete and steel structures (the tank barriers) slowed progress. On the eve of the Second World War, the Dutch army made use of anti-tank ditches and concrete blocks with steel section beams in the New Holland Waterline. The number of tank barriers installed in the New Holland Waterline is unknown; around the year 2000 approximately 10 were still recognisably present, of which 1 was complete. The barrier in the Achterdijk is only partially visible because the work lies partly beneath the paving, but the concrete block in which the beams were placed is clearly visible in the verges on either side of the road.

Description

REMAINS OF A TANK BARRIER, constructed to a broadly standardised design of Type II. The heavy concrete block, more than half a metre thick, which forms the base of the tank barrier, has a passage width of approximately 4.50 m and blocked the Achterdijk across the full width of the road profile (approximately 6.00 m). In the barrier block there were originally two rows of sleeves in which pointed steel H-sections could be placed, which in operational condition could be anchored and then pointed diagonally in an easterly direction. In peacetime the sleeves were closed by means of rectangular covers.

The REMAINS OF THE TANK BARRIER in the Achterdijk 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 constructed from 1815 by him, Jan Blanken and Major-Engineer Willem Offerhaus and subsequently reinforced and improved by others for approximately 125 years.

* Architectural historical values, in particular as an expression of military-strategic engineering, which is based on: a. the system of inundation and access defence (19th and 20th centuries), b. the competition with increasingly powerful offensive means (19th and 20th centuries), c. the system of 'living' field fortification in depth (20th century).

This is a component from the period 1935-1940 that is an example of a remnant of a reinforced concrete, cast iron and steel barrier specially constructed for defence against assault vehicles and/or tanks, which formed part of a linear obstacle further consisting of an adjacent inundation zone and ditches.

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

* The component has become rare and is representative because the barrier has remained recognisable in its physical context.

* The component is reasonably well preserved because both the concrete mass and part of the construction and of the application possibilities remain observable and recognisable in situ.