Fort, vesting en -onderdelen, Waaldijk 29

English translation

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Description

Cluster 73.

NEW HOLLAND WATERLINE

Introduction

CONCRETE BLOCK OF CAST STEEL DOME CASEMATE TYPE G as a remnant of a component added in the period 1939-1940 to the Fort at Vuren, located on the north-east side of the glacis of the fort. In 1936, as a supplement to the reinforced concrete casemate, the so-called cast steel dome casemate was introduced in the Netherlands, which was based on a system already applied in France in 1917. The armour domes used were small in size (favourable with regard to limited visibility and hit probability), round in shape (favourable with regard to deflecting hits and strength), relatively simple to produce in series and they had an 'external' firing aperture (favourable with regard to gases and sound). Moreover, they could be manufactured in the Netherlands, which significantly reduced dependence on foreign sources. A first order of 100 units in the Netherlands (from DEMKA) was, however, followed by a second of 50 units from the Belgian Soc. Anonyme John Cockerill. In total, more than 700 must have been cast in a short time, but only a few have remained more or less complete. The cast steel domes, with a diameter of 1.75 m and thicknesses of 10-17 centimetres, were installed in multiple casemate types with resistance classes W 12-15 to W 21-28. Shortly before the start of the Second World War, so-called Standard Cast Steel Dome Casemates Type G were constructed at various locations in the Dutch lines, in particular in the IJssel Line, the Maas Line, the Grebbe Line (each approximately 150) and in the New Holland Waterline (approximately 80 in a reinforced design with a wall thickness of 14 cm). The usual construction of reinforced concrete with one or more fixed firing openings was thereby abandoned in favour of a system that possessed a firing direction to be projected within variable limits (up to 270 degrees), within a cast steel cylinder with dome roof. Cast Steel Dome Casemates in the New Holland Waterline were standardly equipped with a heavy machine gun as armament. Most of the domes were placed in these Standard Cast Steel Dome Casemates Type G. The casemates could be sealed gas-tight from the inside. During the Second World War, the vast majority of the domes in the interior were demolished by the occupier from the casemates—usually by blowing up the casemates—in order to recast them for other steel requirements. At the coast, they were partly incorporated into the defence, but were mostly demolished after the war. As a result, complete Cast Steel Dome Casemates Type G are rare; specimens still exist at Fort Vechten and one at Fort Everdingen. The heavy reinforced concrete structures in which the domes were placed occur more frequently—usually in damaged form. The casemate at the Fort at Vuren has been dismantled and relieved of the cast steel dome.

Description

CONCRETE BLOCK OF CAST STEEL DOME CASEMATE TYPE G on the north-east side of the glacis of the Fort at Vuren and consisting of a relatively low, almost square, concrete console (approximately 7.00 x 6.50 x 3.00 m; w x d x h), with a bevelled section at the height of the space hollowed out therein for the purpose of the cast steel dome. Access to the casemate can be recognised in a recess on the gorge side of the concrete block. The specimen present within the complex of Fort at Vuren has been blown up to remove the cast steel dome and as a result shows concrete damage. The casemate demonstrates its function through its location and relationship with other components of the complex.

Valuation

The CONCRETE BLOCK OF CAST STEEL DOME CASEMATE TYPE G of the complex Fort at Vuren is of general importance by virtue 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 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 and 20th century), b. the race with increasingly powerful offensive means (19th and 20th century), c. the system of 'living' field fortification in depth (20th century).

It concerns a component from the period 1939-1940, which is an example of a reinforced concrete casemate, now without earth covering and without a cast steel dome.

* Ensemble value and situational values as part of the New Holland Waterline. Also by virtue of the functional and physical relationship with the other components of the complex.

* The component is representative (characteristic) because it is clearly recognisable as a component added to the existing fortification system on the basis of a deconcentrated defence based on a fort.

* The component, despite deliberate dismantling during the Second World War, is reasonably well preserved and can still be readily recognised as a built element in the field.