Fort, vesting en -onderdelen, Batterij onder Poederoijen Poederoijen (Zaltbommel 25)

English translation

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Description

Cluster 77.

NEW HOLLAND WATER LINE

Introduction

BRIDGE as access located on the gorge side of the Battery under Poederoijen, executed as a (fixed) iron bridge. The raising or removal / destruction of bridges has been a proven method since antiquity to ward off intruders. Not only did this prevent passage or crossing over a watercourse, a dry or wet ditch or a terrain depression, but also the attacker himself had to provide means to possibly take the barrier. Wooden bridges were relatively quick to destroy, if necessary by setting them on fire. Stone and concrete bridges required a greater and more time-consuming intervention, although an explosive charge could sometimes quickly achieve the desired effect. With the advent of iron bridges - extensively applied in many different variants in the course of the 19th century - the second possibility remained, but the first disappeared. Blowing up bridges was destruction of capital and only happened in extreme necessity. One way in which iron bridges could be closed was by removing or making inaccessible (small) sections of them. With fixed iron bridges this possibility did not exist, although sections of a roadway consisting of wooden planks could be removed. The authentic access bridge of the Battery under Brakel has remained in poor condition and has been functionally replaced by a dam. The bridge was included in the restoration programme of 2008. In 2009 the bridge was still in poor condition and inaccessible; there were several defective or missing components, including the wooden roadway and the railings.

Description

BRIDGE over the ditch on the gorge side of the Battery under Poederoijen, originally dating from around 1880. The approximately 20 m long and 4 m wide bridge rests on several slightly projecting, braced iron yokes in H-profile. The wooden bridge deck rests on closed iron profile beams. On either side of the bridge deck approximately 1 m high iron railings, supported by means of iron stanchions. Bridges of this type and also of this scale are fairly rare in the New Holland Water Line.

Valuation

The BRIDGE over the ditch on the gorge side of the Battery under Poederoijen is of general interest due to:

* Cultural-historical values as part of the New Holland Water Line as designed by C.R.T. Kraijenhoff and initially constructed from 1815 by him, Jan Blanken and major-engineer Willem Offerhaus and subsequently reinforced and improved by others over approximately 125 years.

* Architectural-historical values in particular as an expression of military-strategic building practice, based on and resulting from: a. the system of inundation and access defence (19th century), b. the race with increasingly powerful offensive means (19th century).

This concerns a component from around 1880, namely an expression related to military-strategic building practice of the historical water engineering, namely a (fixed) access bridge to a small fort.

* Ensemble value and situational values as part of the New Holland Water Line. Also due to the functional and physical coherence with the other components of the complex.

* The component is representative (characteristic) because it is a good example of application of this type of bridge in a military situation and it represents rarity value due to scale, function and condition (after restoration), because few comparable bridges have been preserved.

* The component is moderately preserved because essential components have deteriorated or disappeared, but these will be replaced and supplemented upon restoration.