Batterij, Tussenstelling Nieuwe Zuider Lingedijk Spijk (West Betuwe 25)

English translation

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Description

Cluster 71.

NEW HOLLAND WATERLINE

Introduction

SHELL-PROOF, CONCRETE SHELTER WITH BATTERY / EMPLACEMENT / EARTH GUN EMPLACEMENT as in two phases, for the defence of works laid out at the Nieuwe Zuiderlingedijk and the Spijksche Veld. The works lie approximately 700 m south-southwest of the Lingesluizen at Asperen, next to each other on the north side of the dike.

Shell-proof structures are, like bomb-proof buildings, usually provided on three sides and on top with an earth covering and have only a facade on the gorge side. With the increase in the range of artillery, the force of projectile impacts and the explosive force of (brisant) shells it became increasingly difficult to withstand these. Reinforcement of masonry, application of shock-absorbing masonry systems (among other things by means of arches), shallow slope angles and curved or pointed shapes, use of concrete - and later of reinforced concrete - in increasingly heavy construction, was one of the ways to keep the fortification works resistant to increasing attack force. Moreover, the application of earth coverings proved to be a good means of absorbing or damping energy. This is why many masonry or concrete works were provided with a layer of earth or front protection of sand or earth. The concrete shelter was added to the battery in 1903.

The battery is recognizable as a prepared gun emplacement with four emplacements against the dike slope near the shell-proof concrete shelter and it dates from 1845. Batteries are units of identical artillery weapons (such as cannons or mortars), which are often arranged linearly - sometimes next to each other in a small fortification - in mutual fire coordination and are combined in one organization. Batteries could be deployed for both offensive and defensive purposes. During and after the First World War, anti-aircraft batteries were also built. In the Netherlands and more particularly within the New Holland Waterline, they were only operationally used in a defensive role, particularly in coastal and riverbank defence (along the Zuiderzee and at the major rivers) and along the eastern front. Thus, among other things, batteries / emplacements were set up along the Diefdijk and the Nieuwe Zuiderlingedijk. Most of these initially consisted of (almost) exclusively non-bomb-proof, open earth structures with wooden reinforcement and a covering of earth slopes (dike bodies) and breastworks. Later, closed (reinforced) concrete gun emplacements were also realized. Many earth emplacements and breastworks of former batteries have disappeared or become difficult to recognize over the course of time, but in a number of places they are still present or have been made recognizable again. The example along the Nieuwe Zuiderlingedijk is an exception here, which is still fairly recognizable.

Description

SHELL-PROOF, CONCRETE SHELTER as an early example of a concrete shelter at an earth intermediate battery. The Shelter dates from 1903 and is complementary to the adjacent earth battery. The shell-proof shelter is built against the dike slope, constructed in approximately 50 cm thick cement concrete and originally covered on three sides and on top with earth. The rectangular facade, facing towards the gorge side of the dike slope, approximately three metres high, is provided with several access and/or window openings, of which the steel doors and shutters are missing. The interior consists of two rectangular rooms, the ceiling of which is reinforced with pieces of railroad rail.

BATTERY / EMPLACEMENT / EARTH GUN EMPLACEMENT, laid out in 1845 and formed by a plateau against the dike with four open earth gun emplacements, separated by traverses, behind an earth breastwork located above the dike crown level. The work lies along the north side of the Nieuwe Zuiderlingedijk, approximately 700 m south-southwest of the Lingesluizen at Asperen. The whole is covered with grass and is complementary to the adjacent Shell-proof, concrete shelter. The intermediate battery lies slightly at an angle to the dike crown and is thus clearly oriented towards the bend in the Linge to the south-west of Acquoy.

Valuation

The SHELL-PROOF, CONCRETE SHELTER WITH BATTERY / EMPLACEMENT / EARTH GUN EMPLACEMENT in the Intermediate Position New Holland Waterline complex is of general interest because of:

* Cultural-historical values as part of the New Holland Waterline as designed by C.R.T. Kraijenhoff and first laid out 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 architecture, which is based on: a. the system of inundation and accesses (19th century), b. the arms race with increasingly strengthening offensive means (19th and 20th centuries), c. the system of 'living' field fortification (20th century).

This concerns an ensemble of components from around 1900 and from the middle of the 19th century, which together are examples of a cement concrete shelter with earth covering and of remains of the associated prepared, open, earth intermediate battery.

* Ensemble value and situational values as components of the New Holland Waterline. Also because of the functional and physical coherence with the other components of the complex and in particular because of the mutual coherence between the concrete and the earth work.

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

* The components are fairly well preserved because they as a structure and as an earth work clearly represent their original purpose in a recognizable manner and are easily recognized in the field.