BIG RECLAMATION

Hokitika Guardian, 13 October 1930, Page 8

BIG RECLAMATION

DRAINING ZUIDER ZEE

sitoitY oil' GIGANTIC work

The draining of the Zuider Zee promises to be an important chapter in the life of the Dutch nation. The problems involved are of a gigantic - nature, particularly if viewed from the fact ot the smallness of the population (not quite eight millions), and the tremendous financial outlays, far exceeding the original estimates. In surveying the presejit works as a whole, one must remember that the present Zuider Zee did not always communicate with the North Sea; a map from prehistoric times would rather show a picture distinctly different.from the present one. * A large inland sea, Lake Fleve, existed at the time. Gradually, however, the North Sea broke through int othat lake, swallowing up the land between. Thus the Zuider Zee came, into existence. The islands Wieringen, Texol, Vlieland were witnesses of that early period of enormous natural phenomena. For a long time afterward the Zuider Zee became one of the highways o'f shipping; the chronicles inform us of great activities on that sea, offering/as it did greater saifety than the open ocean. Amsterdam owes its first rise as an important conuhercial town exclusively to its • favourable situation, for Zuider Zee shipping. j. As time went on, however, sandbanks blocked the passages to an everincreasing extent and for centuries-the Zuider Zee eiitirely lost its primary '‘importance as a , main shipping passage. SUGGESTED NEARLY 300 YEARS AGO. The question of reclamation goer back a long way. As early as 1661 one ■ Hendrik Stevin raised it, but H was only due to the high development of engineering and the invaluable ex-i perience gained on the North Sea coast,' as well as in the reclamation ol large stretches of inland lake’s, that the idea gradually materialised. In the year's 1850 to 1900 a great many plans were submitted and exhaustively studied, the technical , side' of the problem being gradually mastered until, on a memorable day in 1918 the late Dr Infe. Laly, a doctor of engineering and Minister of Waterways, intro duced the plan—his own work—in Parliament. It certainly was a strange contrast, the laying of the foundation stone of-a national work for the peaceful'expansion of the country at a time when the roar of mighty, guns wa* heard into the heart of Holland, anc? the World War waged round her on practically all sides.

SCHEME OUTLINED. The Zuider Zee work's are divided int< two sections, of which the second is dependent upon the first, viz. the enclosure of the Zuider Zee against the Nortl Sea, and secondly, the drainage of larg er parts of the present sea. The enclos ure” is to take place by the construct ioir of a gigantic .dam from the shore of the province of Norrd-Holland ovei the island of Wieringen to the shore of the province of Friesland. The part o the dam Noord-Holland, Weiringen which has a total length of 20 miles, is already finished, and the construction commenced at the other end ismaking good progress. By locking tin Zuider Zee, it becomes an inland \yater again. The dam is constructed in such a way that it is proof against all weather conditions ; 25 discharging sluices are built through which after construction of the dam, the Zuider Zee, by means off systematical drainage into the North Sea is transformed into a fresh-water basin which will be called “Yssel Lake,” after the rived Yssel, which flows intc. the sea. From the enclosed Zuider Zee 550 000 acres of land will be recovered. Thai area is divided into four parts, so-call-ed “polders”; the greatest, the southeastern one, will cover 190,000 acres. When these polders were planned the nature of the soil was of decisive. influence in considering which, territory should be reclaimed in order to get the greatest benefit therefrom. COMPLETED WITHIN 20 YEARS. V The present forecast is that the main dam will be completed by 1931 or 1932 and that the whole of the works will take another 20 years. Not till tin middle of this century the twelfth province off Holland will have risen from the waters of the Zuider Zee. Intersected by canals and well irrigated, the new province will have as its centre th<“Yissel Lake,” covering about 275,000 teres, referred to above. In order to have available as soon as possible land suitable for cultivation, a start was made in the course of this year with the draining of the North Sea polder, the Wieringen, which was the first section dammed off from the sea, and although this work is being accelerated as much as possible, the reclaiming of this particular section will not be completed until after the construction of the main dam in 1931 or 1932. The new district will, owing to its severely symmetrical division on account of canals and dams, present a picture somewhat different from the rest of Holland, but the latest methods off townplanning will be applied to the building of the 35 new townships. Of course, the small picturesque islands of Mnrken and Urk will unavoidably disappear, but such is the march of progress, trndition in this instance has to be sacrificed.

THE FINANCIAL -SIDE. The financial aspect of this national work is a .very interesting one, there being practically no - absolutely certain basis of. calculation for an undertaking which will take several decades to accomplish. The experience gained from earlier -reclamation and the drainage was, financially, of no avail, as none could be compared, even approximately with the magnitude of the Zuider Zee works. i , In the past year the Dutch Government, came to an estimate of 79 millions sterling, while a special committee set up by the. Government (called after the president, “Lovink Committee”), put the figure at 83J, millions sterling. In whichever way the problem of costs develops the broad view' is taken that with an enterprise of such vast proortions, which will open up entire new vistas for the general economic development of the country, finnnee—important as it is—is not the determining factor.