Bomvrij militair object, Betonnen werken rond Fort Everdingen Culemborg

English translation

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Description

Cluster 502.

NEW HOLLAND WATER LINE

Introduction

GROUP SHELTERS TYPE P near Fort Everdingen as in the mobilisation period 1939-1940 added components to existing linear and access defence with trench systems and similar. Group shelters Type P are located at multiple sites around and south of Fort Everdingen. Part of these lie in linear arrangement along the eastern side of the Diefdijk. Bank works along the Lek have resulted in part of the Group shelters type P in the complex Concrete Works around Fort Everdingen coming to lie on artificial islands or land tongues and having subsided, making these specimens difficult to recognise as such. Group shelters Type P were built in the 1939-1940 period according to more or less uniform or standard design at multiple locations in the Netherlands. They occur in large numbers in any case on the Southern Front of the so-called Fortress Holland (on the Nieuwe Merwede and the Hollandsch Diep) and at various locations in the New Holland Water Line - then called the Eastern Front of Fortress Holland (including in the area between Fort Rijnauwen and Fort Vechten (Houtense Vlakte) and on and near Fort Everdingen). The total number of built specimens is approximately 700, of which about 570 in the New Holland Water Line; the majority (approximately 400) of these still exist. The construction programme for group shelters Type P had not been completed at the outbreak of the Second World War and a number of specimens were never completed. Type P (also known as 'the pyramid' due to its distinctive form) is presumed to be the best-known type of concrete fortification in the Netherlands. The type resulted from the so-called VIS 77 (Regulations for the Setting Up of Positions no. 77), from 1928, and had among other things the purpose of forming part of the defence of a number of (new) accesses, including in particular (motor)ways and electrified railways. The Group Shelter Type P usually came into being in the immediate vicinity of already existing or at the same time constructed casemates, gun emplacements, fortifications or trenches. Because the trenches and other (earthwork) structures were subsequently demolished or removed almost everywhere, the concrete shelters nowadays often lie partly below ground level or conversely - unintentionally - markedly in sight. The hitherto entirely closed front or facing side of the Group Shelters Type P was in many cases covered by earthworks which could form part of a glacis to protect the trench or of a covered way. These earthworks are now mostly no longer present or only with difficulty recognisable, but particularly on forts or in otherwise broken terrain they are sometimes still present. Numerous specimens of Type P were built in inundatable areas, in a number of cases with a now still visible pile foundation; in others a protruding foundation plate all around or also a trough against inundation water is visible. In the southern bank area and floodplains of the Lek around Fort Everdingen, far-reaching works have been carried out in the context of dike reinforcement, causing part of the concrete works to come to lie in an area of new nature, with among other things islands and land tongues. Here the concrete works are sometimes (with difficulty) visible.

Description

GROUP SHELTERS TYPE P are single-storey, usually in reinforced, approximately 100 to 180 cm thick cast concrete executed, shell-proof, military shelters, which could provide protection for 10-12 men of infantry / artillery. Group shelters Type P were built on a rectangular floor plan, with dimensions of approximately 5.70 X 7.20 X 4.70 m in the version W 21-28. The visible height above ground level varies. Both blind side walls and the rear wall are executed vertically to approximately 3 m height. Above this these walls go inward with a kink of approximately 45 degrees, and then transition to a flat roof. On the right of the rear wall is at locally varying height above ground level an (access opening later either sealed or not). The entirely vertical, closed front side reflects the angles of 45 degrees and thus ends as a 'truncated pointed gable'. In a number of cases iron hooks or brackets were cast into the wall(s) which could serve to secure camouflage material. A characteristic component on top of the shelter type P is the conical, concrete 'outlet', which was intended for the application of a periscope. These periscopes were in practice however never installed. The interior of Group Shelters Type P consists of a short corridor (usually with a concrete retaining wall or balustrade and usually some descending steps) and from there a 'lock' directed to the left which was to be capable of being sealed by a (consisting of several parts) heavy, steel door with bolts. Via a second, comparable door the right-hand course led to a rear lying, virtually square space, the actual shelter. Access to this space could be covered by a firing port. The steel doors were however rarely or never installed and the entrances were later often sealed with brick and plastered. The ceilings lying at approximately two metres above floor level are flat and rectangular. In a number of cases interior components are still present, such as (remains of) wooden benches, firing port closures or a rest for the firearm for covering the entrance. The Group shelters type P near Fort Everdingen lie for an important part in linear arrangement along the eastern side of the Diefdijk, but also there are some scattered specimens. A number of these are clearly recognisable in the field, but others have subsided and / or lie on islands or artificial land tongues and lie partly under water as a result of bank works along the Lek.

Valuation

GROUP SHELTERS TYPE P are of general importance because of:

* Cultural historical values as part of the New Holland Water Line as it was designed by C.R.T. Kraijenhoff and first built 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 building science, which is based on: a. the system of inundation and access defence (19th and 20th century), b. the race with increasingly strengthening offensive means (19th and 20th century), c. the system of 'live' field fortification in depth (20th century).

These are components from the 1939-1940 period. These components are examples of reinforced concrete personnel shelters, now without earthen covering.

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

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

* The components are reasonably well preserved and, particularly insofar as they do not lie in the redesigned bank area of the Lek, are still clearly recognisable in the field as built components.