Bomvrij militair object, Werk aan het Spoel Culemborg

English translation

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Description

Cluster 503.

NEW DUTCH WATER LINE

Introduction

GROUP SHELTERS TYPE P as 20th-century, serially built, additions to the existing defence work. The Group Shelters Type P were built according to more or less uniform or standard design, in the years 1939-1940 in multiple locations in the Netherlands. The total number of built examples amounts to approximately 700, of which in the New Dutch Water Line approximately 570; the majority (approximately 400) of these still exist. The building programme of the Group Shelters Type P was not completed when the Second World War broke out and a number of examples are known never to have been completed. Type P (also called 'the pyramid' because of its distinctive shape) is presumably the most well-known type of concrete defence work in the Netherlands. The type stemmed from the so-called VIS 77 (Regulation for Setting Up Positions no. 77), from 1928 and had among other purposes the aim of forming part of the defence of a number of new accesses, including especially (high-speed) roads. The Group Shelter Type P usually came into being in the immediate vicinity of already existing or contemporaneously realised casemates, gun positions, fortifications or trenches. Because the trenches and other earthworks were later levelled or demolished almost everywhere, the concrete shelters nowadays often lie partly below ground level. The traditionally entirely closed front or forward side of the Group Shelters Type P was in many cases covered by earthworks which could form part of a glacis for protection of the trench or a covered way. These earthworks are nowadays mostly no longer present or only recognisable with difficulty, but particularly on forts or in otherwise uneven terrain they are sometimes still present. Numerous examples of Type P were built in inundatable areas, whereby in a number of cases a still visible pile foundation was used; in others a projecting foundation slab all around or also a trough against floodwater is visible. On and around the Work at the Spoel multiple examples occur, of which those on the fort mostly (still) covered by earth and the others mostly standing free in the field. During the major restoration and reorganisation of the work around 2010, changes occurred in these, which (positively) influenced the extent and manner of visibility.

Description

The GROUP SHELTERS TYPE P on and around the Work at the Spoel were built on a rectangular floor plan, with dimensions varying from approximately 5.50 x 7.20 x 4.70 m to 6.50 x 8.20 x 4.90 m (width x depth x height). The visible height above ground level varies, however. Both blind side walls and the rear wall are executed vertically to a height of approximately 3 m. Above this these walls bend at an angle of approximately 45° inward, to then continue into a flat roof. On the right in the rear wall is an (later either or not filled in), usually square access opening at locally varying height above ground level. The entirely vertical, closed front wall reflects the 45° angles 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 attach camouflage material. A characteristic component on top of the Type P shelter is the conical, concrete 'outlet', which was intended for the use of a periscope. These periscopes were in practice, however, never installed. The interior of the Group Shelters Type P consists of a short corridor (usually with a concrete retaining wall or balustrade and usually a few descending steps) and from there a 'lock' directed to the left which could be sealed by a (consisting of multiple parts) heavy, steel door. Via a second, similar door one could turn right into a rear-lying, almost square room, the actual shelter. The entrance could be covered from this room via a loophole. The doors were in practice, however, also rarely or never installed. The ceilings, situated just over 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 or a support for the machine gun for coverage of the entrance. The Group Shelters Type P, in most cases covered by layers of earth, are located in multiple places in the northern and southern part of the Work at the Spoel, in the glacis east of the work and to the southwest of the work outside the wet ditch. The examples on the work are sometimes difficult to find because of their covering, but are thereby in an authentic or original position.

Valuation

The GROUP SHELTERS TYPE P on and around the Work at the Spoel are of general importance because of:

* Cultural-historical values as part of the New Dutch Water Line as designed by C.R.T. Kraijenhoff and initially from 1815 realised by him, Jan Blanken and Major-Engineer Willem Offerhaus and subsequently by others strengthened and improved for approximately 125 years.

* Architectural-historical values in particular as an expression of military-strategic building technique, which is based on: a. the system of inundation and accesses (19th century), b. the race with increasingly strengthened offensive means (19th and 20th centuries), c. the system of 'living' field fortification (20th century).

These are components from the period 1939 - 1940, which are examples of reinforced concrete personnel shelters.

* Ensemble value as part of the New Dutch Water Line. 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 added to the existing fortification system.

* The components are fairly well preserved and as built elements, partly complete with earth covering, are more or less well recognisable in the field or on the work.