Fort, vesting en -onderdelen, Waaldijk 29

English translation

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Description

Cluster 73.

NEW HOLLANDIC WATERLINE

Introduction

Two SPLINTER-PROOF SHELTERS TYPE 1916 / II, as components of linear and access defence based on trench systems, covered ways and the like. (Concrete) shelters provided an answer to the arrival of heavy projectiles and explosive grenades with high-explosive charge. The earliest types of shelters offered only protection against grenade fragments and were called 'splinter-proof'. From the beginning of the 20th century, experiments were conducted with deconcentrated, small (concrete) shelters. In doing so, ad hoc use was sometimes made of existing, available materials such as railway rails, rubble, wooden beams and concrete slabs, but alongside this prefabricated components were assembled or concrete was poured on site. Thus, on various locations within the New Hollandic Waterline, various traces—whether unique or not—of such experiments in concrete can still be found. Sometimes they are called shelters, but also battery shelters. Shelters type 1916 / I and 1916 / II were built according to more or less uniform or standard design in 1916 and 1917 in multiple locations in the New Hollandic Waterline. There are, among others, examples at Fort Vuren and at the Battery below Brakel. The shelters, executed as monolithic, cylindrical concrete constructions, formed part of concrete experiments by the Corps of Engineers. Such concrete shelters were usually integrated in trenches, at the gorge side of the cover. The closed front or facing side of the shelters was protected by a gravel or rubble chest, or by earthworks that formed part of a dyke, a glacis protecting the trench or a covered way. This rubble, gravel or earthwork is sometimes no longer present or still only barely recognizable, while the traces of the earthen trenches have usually been largely obliterated. The types 1916 / I and 1916 / II (also called type 1917) proved to be very vulnerable in tests. Both types are fairly rare and occur in various variants.

Description

The two SPLINTER-PROOF SHELTERS TYPE 1916 / II are one-storey, splinter-proof, military accommodations executed in reinforced concrete, which could provide shelter for 8 infantrymen / artillerymen. The two splinter-proof shelters type 1916 / II are located in the glacis of the Fort at Vuren. The shelters 1916 / II were built on a rectangular plan of approximately 6.50 x 1.50 x 1.90 m (w x d x h). The shelters were built according to an approximately seven-sided cylindrical model designed to promote the deflection of fragments. The long facades, the roof and the exterior of the floor thus exhibit a blunt angle along the entire length. The two blind side gables are executed vertically. The shelters Type 1916 / II were constructed as monolithic concrete works and were accessible via two access openings, left and right, at the trench side—the gorge side. These accesses, located a few tens of centimetres above ground level, are surrounded by rectangular concrete frames. The shelters of this type were closable by means of iron shutters, which are no longer present. The shelters are closed, but (sometimes) reopened. The interior consists of one undivided space that internally reflects the seven-sided casting form.

Valuation

The two SPLINTER-PROOF SHELTERS TYPE 1916 / II in the glacis of the Fort at Vuren are of general importance because of:

* Cultural-historical values as part of the New Hollandic Waterline as designed by C.R.T. Kraijenhoff and initially realized 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 access defence (19th century), b. the race with increasingly strengthened offensive means (19th and 20th centuries).

These are components from around 1916, namely examples of concrete shelters.

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

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

* The components are fairly rare because they are scarce surviving examples of military, experimental series manufacture of this type of defence means.

* The components are fairly well preserved because they can still be well recognized in the field as built components.