Fort, vesting en -onderdelen, Tussenstelling Spijksche Veld Heukelum (West Betuwe 25)

English translation

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Description

Cluster 72.

NEW HOLLAND WATERLINE

Introduction

SHELL-PROOF, CONCRETE SHELTER WITH BATTERY / EMPLACEMENT / EARTHEN GUN POSITION, at the Broeksche sluice, constructed and built in 1901. The battery served to cover the flooded terrain in front of it. The works are located on the Zuider Lingedijk, slightly east of the junction with the Spijksche Kweldijk.

The SHELL-PROOF, CONCRETE SHELTER is located on the north side of the dike, west of the battery, but is not easily recognisable. Shell-proof structures, like bomb-proof buildings, are usually provided with earthen covering on three sides and on top and have a facade only on the throat side. With the increase in the range of artillery, the force of projectile impacts and the explosive power of (brisant) grenades, it became increasingly difficult to resist this. Thickening of masonry, application of shock-absorbing masonry systems (including by means of arches), shallow angles of inclination and curved or pointed shapes, use of concrete - and later of reinforced concrete - in increasingly heavy execution, was one of the ways to maintain the fortifications against increasing attacking force. Moreover, the application of earthen coverings had proven to be a good means to absorb or dampen the energy. This is the reason why many masonry or concrete works are provided with a layer of earth or a front protection of sand or earth.

The BATTERY / EMPLACEMENT / EARTHEN GUN POSITION is situated against the north dike slope and is vaguely recognisable as a prepared earthen abutment for gun position, east of the shell-proof concrete shelter. 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 defensive work - in mutual fire connection and are combined in one organisation. 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 deployed 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 them initially consisted (almost) exclusively of non-bomb-proof, open earthworks with wooden reinforcement and a covering of earthen slopes (dike bodies), trenches and breastworks. Later, enclosed (reinforced) concrete gun positions were also realised. Many earthen emplacements and breastworks of former batteries have disappeared or become difficult to recognise over time, but in a number of places they are still present or have been made recognisable again.

Description

BATTERY SHELTER, built in 1901 against a dike slope, executed in approximately 50 cm thick cement concrete and originally covered with earth on three sides and on top; the covering is missing. The rectangular facade, facing the throat side of the dike slope, approximately three metres high, is provided with two arched entrances and similarly arched window openings, all four with authentic steel doors and shutters with heavy hinges. The interior consists of two rectangular rooms, the ceiling of which is reinforced with pieces of railway rail. The work is an early example of a cement concrete shelter at an earthen intermediate battery.

BATTERY / EMPLACEMENT / EARTHEN GUN POSITION, was also laid out in 1901 and currently consists of an earthen abutment lying against the dike. The whole is coarsely overgrown and is difficult to recognise.

Evaluation

The SHELL-PROOF, CONCRETE SHELTER WITH BATTERY / EMPLACEMENT / EARTHEN GUN POSITION in the complex Intermediate Position Spijksche Veld 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 realised 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, which is based on: a. the system of inundation and accesses (19th century), b. the 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, which is an example of a cement concrete battery shelter and a battery.

* Ensemble value and situational values as part 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 earthen work.

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

* The components are reasonably well preserved and partly (namely the battery) moderately well preserved, because of the condition of the earthen work, and they are relatively difficult to recognise in the field.