Bomvrij militair object, Lunet IV Utrecht

English translation

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Description

Cluster 47. Group Shelters Type P.

NEW HOLLANDIC WATERLINE

Introduction

GROUP SHELTER TYPE P (INCOMPLETE) on Lunet IV as an example of a 20th-century, mass-produced intended addition to the existing defence. The incomplete Group Shelter Type P within Complex Lunet IV would be administratively known, however without an exact location. Group Shelters Type P formed part of the modernisation of the defence via so-called 'living field fortification', which usually had a dispersed character. Group Shelters Type P were built according to more or less uniform or standard design (mainly) in the years 1939-1940 in multiple locations in the Netherlands. The total number of built examples amounts to approximately 700, of which in the New Hollandic Waterline approximately 570; the majority (c. 400) of these still exist. The building programme of the Group Shelters Type P was not completed at the outbreak of the Second World War and a number of examples are known never to have been completed. Type P (also called 'the pyramid' because of its distinctive shape) is presumably the most well-known type of concrete defensive work in the Netherlands. The type arose from the so-called VIS 77 (Regulation for Setting Up Positions no. 77), from 1928, and had among other things the purpose of forming part of the defence of a number of existing and new accesses, including in particular (motorways) and (electrified or to be 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. Because the trenches and other (earth) works were later levelled or demolished almost everywhere, the concrete shelters nowadays often lie partly below ground level. The front side of the Group Shelters Type P, closed from old times, was in many cases covered by earthworks which could form part of a glacis for the protection of the trench or a covered way. These earthworks are nowadays usually no longer present or scarcely recognisable, but particularly on forts or in otherwise uneven terrain they sometimes still exist. There are various variants of Type P, both in terms of dimensions and protective class as in execution and detailing. Thus there are examples built in protective classes W 15-21 and W 21-28 with dimensions ranging from approximately 5.50 x 7.20 x 4.70 m to 6.50 x 8.20 x 4.90 m (w x d x h). Numerous examples of Type P were built in inundatable areas, in which in a number of cases a visible pile foundation was used, whilst often a retaining wall and incidentally a trough with steps to stop inundation water was incorporated in the then elevated, square entrance and in yet others a concrete foundation slab projecting all around is present. The example on Lunet IV remained incomplete - the location is (still) unknown - but would consist of little more than a reinforced concrete foundation slab.

Description

The GROUP SHELTER TYPE P (INCOMPLETE) on Lunet IV was built on a rectangular ground plan, with dimensions of approximately 5.50 x 7.20 x 4.70 m (w x d x h). The intended ground plan of the Group Shelter Type P consists of a short passage and a 'lock chamber' directed to the left from it, which was to be lockable by a (consisting of several parts) heavy, steel door with bolts. Via a second, similar door the right-hand path led to a rear, virtually square space, the actual shelter. There will scarcely or no (intended) interior components be present (or be able to be), but possibly the beginnings thereof.

Valuation

The GROUP SHELTER TYPE P (INCOMPLETE) on Lunet IV 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 from 1815 by him, Jan Blanken and major-engineer Willem Offerhaus was laid out and thereafter by others for approximately 125 years was strengthened and improved.

* Architectural-historical values, in particular as an expression of military-strategic building science, which is based on: a. the system of inundation and access defence (20th century), b. the race with increasingly strengthening offensive means (20th century), c. the system of 'living' field fortification in depth (20th century).

This concerns here an example of an incomplete reinforced concrete troop shelter on a lunet, without roof and interior, from the period 1939-1940.

* Archaeological values because of the presumably present in the soil remains or traces of concrete works and the like.

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

* The component is representative (characteristic) for the construction method of such works and because it was added to the existing fortification system.

* The component is - although in incomplete state - presumably preserved in fairly good condition.