Fort, vesting en -onderdelen, Betonnen werken rond Fort Blauwkapel Utrecht

English translation

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Description

Cluster 34. Group Shelters Type P.

NEW HOLLANDSE WATERLINIE

Introduction

GROUP SHELTERS TYPE P around Fort Blauwkapel were added to the existing linear and access defence with trench systems and similar features during the mobilisation period 1939-1940, as armed concrete components. Group shelters Type P are located at multiple sites on and around Fort Blauwkapel. Group shelters Type P were built at multiple locations in the Netherlands in 1939-1940 according to more or less uniform or standard design. They occur in great numbers in any case on the South Front of the so-called Vesting Holland (on the Nieuwe Merwede and the Hollandsch Diep) and at various locations in the Nieuwe Hollandse Waterlinie - then called the East Front of Vesting Holland (including in the area between Fort Rijnauwen and Fort Vechten (the Houtense Vlakte), in the area between Fort de Klop and Fort Voordorp and on and near Fort Everdingen). The total number of built examples is approximately 700, of which approximately 570 are in the Nieuwe Hollandse Waterlinie; the majority (approximately 400) of these still exist. The building programme for the group shelters Type P had not been completed at the outbreak of the Second World War and a number of examples were never finished. Type P (also called 'the pyramid' because of its striking form) is presumed to be the most famous type of concrete defensive work in the Netherlands. The type resulted from the so-called VIS 77 (Voorschrift Inrichten Stellingen no. 77), from 1928, and was intended among other things to be part of the defence of a number of (new) accesses, including especially (high-speed) roads and electrified railways. The Group Shelter Type P usually came into being in the immediate vicinity of already existing or contemporaneously realised casemates, gun emplacements, fortifications or trenches. Some were also built on existing forts. Because the trenches and other earthworks were subsequently levelled or demolished almost everywhere, the concrete shelters nowadays quite often lie partly below ground level or conversely - unintentionally - stand out conspicuously in view. The completely closed front or forward face of the Group Shelters Type P was in many cases protected by earthworks that could form part of a glacis to protect the trench or a covered way. These earthworks are now mostly no longer present or only recognisable with difficulty, but particularly on forts or in otherwise uneven terrain they are sometimes still present. Numerous examples of Type P were built in inundatable areas, in some cases with a subsequently visible pile foundation; in others a projecting base plate or also a trough against inundation water is visible. The examples around Fort Blauwkapel are scattered, with a concentration on the east side. Near one of the examples on the east side is also the concrete fighting trench.

Description

GROUP SHELTERS TYPE P are single-storey military shelters, usually executed in reinforced concrete cast to approximately 100 to 180 cm thickness, bombproof, capable of providing shelter for 10-12 infantry / artillery personnel. Group Shelters Type P were built on a rectangular ground plan, with dimensions of approximately 5.70 X 7.20 X 4.70 m in the W 21-28 version. The visible height above ground level varies. Both blind side walls and the gorge side are executed vertically to approximately 3 m in height. Above this these walls angle inward at approximately 45 degrees, then transition to a flat roof. On the right side of the gorge wall is an access opening at locally varying heights above ground level, subsequently closed or left open in some cases. The entirely vertical, closed front wall reflects the 45-degree angles and thus ends as a 'truncated pointed gable'. In a number of cases iron hooks or brackets were cast into the wall(s) that could serve to secure camouflage material. A characteristic component on top of the Type P shelter is the conical concrete 'outlet', intended for the use of a periscope. These periscopes were however never installed in practice. The interior of Group Shelters Type P consists of a short corridor (usually with a concrete retaining wall or balustrade and usually a few descending steps) and from there a 'lock' leading to the left that was to be closable by a (multi-part) heavy steel door with bolts. Via a second, similar door a rear space could be reached turning right, the actual shelter. The entrance could be covered from this space by a loophole. The steel doors were however never installed and the entrances were later often sealed with brick. The ceilings situated at approximately two metres above floor level are flat and rectangular. In a number of cases interior components are still present, such as loophole closures, (remains of) wooden benches or a support for the firearm for covering the entrance. The Group Shelters Type P around Fort Blauwkapel are scattered and most are fairly readily recognisable in the field.

Valuation

The GROUP SHELTERS TYPE P around Fort Blauwkapel are of general importance because of:

* Cultural-historical values as part of the Nieuwe Hollandse Waterlinie 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 art, based on: a. the system of inundation and access defence (19th and 20th century), b. the arms race with increasingly reinforced offensive means (19th and 20th century), c. the system of 'living' field fortification in depth (20th century).

These are components from the period 1939-1940. These components are examples of reinforced concrete personnel shelters.

* Ensemble value and situational values as part of the Nieuwe Hollandse Waterlinie. Also because of the functional and physical coherence with the other components of the complex.

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

* The components are reasonably well preserved and are readily recognisable as built elements in the field.