Militair verblijfsgebouw, Betonnen werken bij Asperen Asperen (West Betuwe 25)

English translation

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Description

Cluster 69.

NEW HOLLAND WATERLINE

Introduction

BATTERY SHELTER MEERDIJK (North) of the Concrete Works Asperen complex, built in 1906 as part of the defence of the lock complex at Asperen, by means of which large parts of the area in front and the southern Alblasserwaard could be inundated. Also for the defence of the Linge access. The shelter is located on the west or heel side of the Meerdijk, approximately at the level of the exit to house number 1. Similar battery shelters and stores have also been constructed in other places on the heel sides of dike and fortification slopes as decentralised shrapnel-free accommodations for personnel and/or equipment. Another lies approximately 200 m further south. Such battery shelters arose at the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century, partly in response to improved and heavier assault weapons against forts and other concentrated defensive works, and were often located in the vicinity of (open) gun emplacements where a battery could be installed. North of this battery shelter are remains of an earthen gun emplacement from 1845 and improved in 1899, which, despite some vegetation, can still be well recognised as such.

Description

BATTERY SHELTER MEERDIJK (North), constructed against the dike slope, executed in approximately 50 cm thick cement concrete and originally covered on three sides and on top with earth; the covering is mostly absent. The rectangular facade facing the heel side of the dike slope, approximately three metres high, is provided with multiple entrance and/or window openings. Doors are absent. The interior consists of two rectangular rooms, the ceiling of which is reinforced with steel beams.

Valuation

The BATTERY SHELTER MEERDIJK (North) of the Concrete Works Asperen complex is 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 strengthened and improved by others over approximately 125 years.

* Architectural-historical values in particular as an expression of military-strategic building construction, based on: a. the system of inundation and accesses (19th century), b. the race with increasingly strengthened offensive weapons (19th and 20th century).

This concerns a component from around 1900, which is an example of a concrete battery shelter with earthen covering, combined with the associated gun emplacement.

* 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 and in particular because of the mutual connection between the concrete work and the earthen emplacement.

* The component is representative (characteristic) because it is clearly recognisable as part of a decentralised defensive line added to the existing fortification system.

* The component is reasonably well preserved and it can still be well recognised in the field - especially also through the connection between the concrete and earthen work.