Bomvrij militair object, Waaldijk 29

English translation

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Description

Cluster 73.

NEW HOLLANDIC WATERLINE

Introduction

CONCRETE SHELTER type / I as part of linear and access defence based on trench systems, covered roads and the like. (Concrete) shelters were a response to the arrival of heavy projectiles and high-explosive grenades with highly explosive charges. The earliest types of shelters offered only protection against shrapnel and were called 'splinter-proof'. From the early 20th century onwards, experiments were conducted with decentralised, small (concrete) shelters. In some cases, existing, available materials such as railway rails, rubble, wooden beams and concrete slabs were used ad hoc, but alongside this, prefabricated components were assembled or concrete was poured on site. Thus, traces of such experiments in concrete can still be found in various places in the country and within the New Hollandic Waterline. Sometimes they are called shelters, but also battery shelters. A number of concrete shelters dating from the years 1914-1918 show clear characteristics of experiments with monolithic construction and prefab elements. Multiple experiments were conducted, of which two occur within the complex of Fort at Vuren. In addition to the monolithic, seven-sided cylindrical shelters, these comprise three concrete shelters, one of type I (one entrance) and two of type II. The type I example is located in the glacis outside the moat of the fort. The iron reinforcement and the concrete were relatively weak, which meant that the protection was insufficient. The system was, despite applied earth covering, vulnerable. The covering was at most splinter-proof.

Description

CONCRETE SHELTER type / I, in the glacis outside the moat of the Fort at Vuren. This type consists of separate, prefabricated, reinforced concrete plates, which are connected to each other by means of rods. At both ends of the facade on the gorge side, at the top a cantilever with between them an overhang and below this one of the tension rods. On top for reinforcement additional concrete cover segments and further partial earth covering. With this plate system, the shelters could theoretically be built to any desired length. The number of entrances - in which doors could be hung - could also be varied; this example has one entrance, but no door is present. Experiments with these concrete shelter types I and II, which appear to be an intermediate form between the seven-sided cylindrical prefab shelters and type 1916, were rarely conducted and they are very rare.

Valuation

The CONCRETE SHELTER type / I in the glacis of the Fort at Vuren is of general importance because of:

* Cultural-historical values as part of the New Hollandic 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 techniques, which are based on: a. the system of inundation and access defence (19th and 20th centuries), b. the race with increasingly strengthening offensive means (19th and 20th centuries).

This is a component from the period 1914-1918. This component is an example of an enlisted personnel shelter executed in concrete and steel.

* Ensemble value and situational values as part of the New Hollandic Waterline. Also because of the functional and physical coherence with the other components of the complex.

* The component is rare as an early example of a military concrete experiment and representative (characteristic) because it is clearly recognisable as part of a decentralised defence added to the existing fortification system.

* The component is fairly well preserved and remains easily recognisable as a constructed element.