Netherlands/Belgium Trip - Neeltje Jans      30th June:

Walking to the Brouwershaven Bus Stop. The Dutch are Obsessed with Cleanliness

    A downpour hammered down on our home through the night, but by dawn blue patches were wrenching the clouds apart.
    We had a tete-a-tete to discuss the state of the tides and weather forecasts over the forthcoming days, and how to work our way around to Ostend by Friday. Then it was a quick walk around the market, and as in Goes, just clothes and junk for sale. With nothing to hold our interest, we caught the bus to Noordwelle, a transit stop on our way to Neeltje Jans.
    There was only one other passenger who we fell into conversation with, a lovely old chap. He spoke good English, and proceeded to give us directions to our destination. "I learned English, German and French at school," he told us, "and nowadays children can choose between French and Spanish." He had spent some years at Sneek in Friesland before moving on to become a head-teacher at Zierikzee until he retired.

Typical Brouwershaven Front Yards

    Now he spent summer months in a mobile home by the coast, indeed he swam in the sea every day from May to October, despite the cold 12 degrees water temperature during spring. He was a really, friendly chap who had found true happiness.
    We transferred buses at Noordwelle, and caught the bus to Neeltje Jans. This bus took us through lush agricultural land and chocolate box villages and towns. A noteworthy settlement was Burgh-Haamstede, very much a tourist trap. The town actually consisted of two villages: Burgh and Haamstede which were still clearly recognizable. It contained all the elements necessary for a cosy getaway: a 13th century castle, forest and beaches within easy reach. The most famous building was undoubtedly the Wester Lichttoren at nearby New Haamstede. This red and white lighthouse became famous when it was depicted on the banknote of 250 guilders. There were countless immaculate houses in the town, all different in style, and all with large manicured gardens. Bikes ruled the streets, not surprising really since the whole region seemed to be full of campsites and caravan parks, all offering bike hire facilities. Peppered across the landscape were countless white signs with red lettering, all direction signs for cyclists to navigate around the myriads of cycle paths. Our bus passed a large peloton of children on bikes. Our driver tooted his horn, and they all waved. What a pleasant part of the world this was.
    Soon we were traversing the Pijlerdam and sluices that separate the Oosterschelde from the North Sea. Half way across the Oosterscheldedam that connects Noord-Beveland and Schouwen-Duiveland, an artificial island was constructed to facilitate the construction of the dam. This island was Neeltje Jans, named after a nearby sand bar. We had come here with the specific purpose of visiting the Deltaworks Expo sited on this island. The bus dropped us off at a stop by the busy highway, and we wandered down a narrow, shell strewn path to the Expo.
    The entrance fee was a tad expensive, but well worth it. A 30 minute film with English subtitles gave us an excellent introduction to the history of the coastal flooding problems, the large flood of 1953 with its terrible aftermath, and the subsequent creation of the Deltaworks project to ensure the whole of the Netherlands was adequately protected. Some impressive engineering had been conducted. Other static displays and videos went into in-depth history, the a human story 1953 flood on a cold February night, dyke building techniques, more recent protection systems and philosophies, and the ecology and the need to preserve it. It was all done very well.

The Delta in 1580 from Zelandicarum by Jacob van Deventer

    So what was the Deltaworks project all about? It is important to grasp that more than half of the Netherlands is below sea level, hence the name the "Low Lands". From the east the Rhine, Maas, Schelde and other rivers deliver colossal amounts of water daily into what is effectively a huge delta. In the west lies the North Sea, always a threat, particularly when tidal surges and storms combine.

The Deltaworks Today

    Studies conducted in 1937 by the Department of Public Works showed that safety in many parts of the Netherlands could not be guaranteed at times of storms and high sea levels. In the densely populated areas near the river mouths of the Rhine, Maas, and Schelde, it proved very difficult to build new dykes or strengthen the original ones. The first solution was to close all the river mouths: the Westerschelde, the Oosterschelde, the Haringvliet, and the Brouwershavense Gat. This proposal was christened "the Deltaplan". In 1950, the first river mouths of the Brieles' Gat and the Botlek were closed. The Brielse Maas became a freshwater basin. This not only made the area safer, but it also provided Voorne with a freshwater supply. The plan was to build the remaining dams in the following decades. Unfortunately though, the infamous flood of 1953 prevented this from happening. Nearly two thousand people died and more than 150,000 hectares of land were flooded. People soon became aware that something had to be done, and very, very quickly.
    Twenty days after the flood of 1953, the Delta commission was inaugurated. The commission would give advice about the execution of the Deltaplan, which would, in the long run, increase the safety of the Delta area. Although safety was the number one priority, the seaways De Nieuwe Waterweg and the Westerschelde would have to stay open, because of the economic importance of the ports of Rotterdam and Antwerp. In order to be able to build dams in the rivers' mouths, some auxiliary dams would first have to be built in the Zandkreek, the Krammer, the Grevelingen, and the Volkerak. These dams were known as "compartment dams", since they would divide the large area of water into multiple compartments. In 1959, the Delta Law was passed, in order to organise the construction of the dams. The building of the "Delta Works" was such an enormous project, that it was sometimes referred to as the "eighth wonder of the world" - and not without good reason.
    By 1958 the first Deltawork was already operational. It was the storm barrier in the river Hollandse Ijssel. This barrier (not a dam) was of great importance because it protected the densely populated western part of the Netherlands (known as "the Randstad") against future flooding. Three years later, in 1961, two more mouths were closed: the Veerse Gat and the Zandkreek. The water between these dams soon became fresh and is now known as the Veerse Meer.

    An enormous array of sluices were built in the mouth of the Haringvliet in order to drain off excess water from the river Rhine. The sluices are able to be opened during very cold winters, to prevent the tide from freezing. This could be necessary to prevent the freezing of the large Dutch rivers. It was therefore, only in emergency situations, that salt water from the North Sea would be allowed to enter the freshwater Haringvliet. After the construction of the Haringvliet dam, the Haringvliet gradually became fresh. By 1971, the seventeen sixty-metres-wide sluices were fully operational. The Brouwers dam, south of the Haringvliet dam, was finished almost a year later.

Just a Few of the Oosterscheldedam Sluices

    According to the original plans, the Oosterschelde would be closed, just like the other river mouths. The water enclosed behind the dam would therefore become fresh, exactly like the water in the Haringvliet and the Lake of Veere. There was some unexpected resistance against the construction of a closed dam, because people were concerned that the unique salt water environment of the Oosterschelde would cease to exist. Specifically, not only the environment, but also the fishing industry would suffer from a dam. One possibility was to keep the Oosterschelde open and to systematically raise the 150 kms of dykes around the Oosterschelde. In 1976, the Dutch government agreed to an alternative plan: instead of building a closed dam, an open barrier would be built, containing a number of sluices that would only be closed during heavy storms and high water levels. Thus the unique freshwater environment and the favourable fishery conditions would be maintained. Sixty-two openings, each forty metres wide, would be installed to allow as much salt water through as possible. It was supposed to maintain the tidal movement. The Oosterschelde storm surge barrier turned out to be one of the biggest structures of the world. The costs of an "open dam" were considerable higher than the costs of an ordinary closed dam: 2.5 billion euros were needed to complete the barrier. On October 4th, 1986, the Dutch Queen Beatrix officially opened the Oosterschelde storm surge barrier.

Immense Flood Through Each Sluice

    Besides shortening the total length of the dykes by 700 kms, the Deltaworks had many other advantages. Firstly, the agricultural freshwater supply was improved. Because the border between freshwater and saltwater was moved further west, less freshwater was required to balance the freshwater-saltwater division. The excess water could be transported to the north of the Netherlands, in the direction of the Ijsselmeer, where extra freshwater was welcomed to improve the water conditions.
    Secondly, the complete water balance of the Delta area was improved. Thanks to the construction of the major and auxiliary dams, the streams in this area were able to be manipulated more easily. Different types of sluices made it possible to allow fresh water in, or polluted or excess water out.
    Thirdly, the construction of the Deltaworks encouraged traffic between the many islands and peninsulas. Large parts of the province of Zeeland had literally been isolated for centuries. The building of the Zeeland Bridge together with a tunnel under the Westerscheldetunnel (2003), also helped increase mobility.
    Fourthly, the inland waterways shipping was supported by the Deltaworks. In 1976, Belgium and the Netherlands signed a contract that would regulate the shipping between the ports of Antwerp and Rotterdam. Obviously, this agreement had to be taken into account when building the Deltaworks.
    Lastly, the Deltaworks have influenced new developments in the areas of nature and recreation. Understandably, a number of nature reserves were irreparably damaged, but as compensation, new nature reserves had emerged at different sites. Nowadays, dry shores are sometimes used as recreational areas. Whether or not nature has benefited from the Deltaworks will remain an unsolved debate. However, there is no doubt over the need for durable water management, in which safety, prosperity, and nature are taken into account.

Part of the Zeelandbrug Further Down the Oosterschelde

    In addition to the construction of new dams and barriers, at several places, existing dams had to be heightened. This was especially the fact in the western parts of the islands (Walcheren, Schouwen, Goerree) and along the waterway of Rotterdam and the Western Schelde. The dykes needed reinforcement because they were not directly protected by the large works. It was a common misconception that the Deltaworks were only built to replace dykes. In most of the cases, building a Deltawork was much quicker, and cheaper than reinforcing existing dykes. Since the building and strengthening of dykes are time consuming and expensive, another Deltawork was built to the west of Maassluis at the end of the 20th century. The movable barrier, called the "Maeslant Barrier", can close off the New Waterway when water levels are threatening the dykes in the environment. Due to the recent climate change and the rise in sea level, high water levels are more likely to occur near the coasts of Zeeland and Holland. The number of people that live in the polders, several metres below sea level, had actually increased since the flood of 1953. The chance now to have another flood had decreased from once per 80 years to once per 4,000 years. Moreover, the Oosterschelde storm surge barrier would not have to be replaced for the next two hundred years. Hopefully, one does not have to think about a new solution until the middle of the 21st century. The general consensus among scientists is that the reinforcement of dykes and the construction of dams and barriers is in no way the final siege in the battle against the sea.

    The whole story behind the Deltaworks and the ingenuity of the engineering involved in implementing the plan had us totally enthralled, and here we were on the jewel of the crown, the Oosterscheldedam; very fitting I thought.
    The same site was also a fun park. We visited one of the other buildings, a large whale shaped steel building that presented an informative display about Cetaceans (whales, dolphins and porpoises). A large fin whale skeleton was on display. This whale had been spotted off Egmond and washed ashore at Den Helder. Apparently it had been dead for two weeks and it stunk to high heaven. It was stripped of its rotting flesh, and the skeleton preserved for this centre.

Our Cheeky Dutch Barman

    An aquarium showed a collection of marine creatures associated with the local habitat. There was also a hurricane simulator, inside which we were subjected to winds up to 133 km/hr. Rex and I were convinced we had experienced worse winds out at sea. We ignored the seal show and the water park.
    A short walk by the Oosterschelde took us to yet another exhibition inside one of the roadway concrete sections that crossed the sluices. This gave a more detailed technical account of how this dam and its sluices function. Towards the end of it we were able to climb out and walk along a gangway beside one of the enormous steel gates that would be lowered to control flood tides. Peering over the side we could see the tide flooding into the Oosterschelde over the concrete sills below. It was wide and very fast flowing, breaking up into turbulent white water. An excellent place to practice white water canoeing I thought. The power of the flow through each sluice was immense, and I could not help wondering that surely it cannot be beyond the wit of man to harness this energy with turbines.
    After an excellent session at the Expo, we set about retracing our steps back to Brouwershaven. Our bus passed a lady on a bike, with a trotting horse on a lead alongside her. God only knows how she would have coped if the horse decided to bolt. Even more bizarre was a large cornfield with a caravan in the middle of it; the caravan seemed to have been dropped from the sky since there was no evidence of a track leading to it. And most bizarre of all was the sight of Meryl, at Noordwelle, haranguing an ant's nest with a stick and a raisin from a bun. Those buns did come in handy. Rex just shook his head, and for some reason started reciting poetry, "I must go down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky, And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by, ........" from Sea Fever by John Masefield. However, he had put a clever twist to it. Since we were in the Netherlands and below sea level, his version started, "I must go up to the seas again, ..... ". It had been a long day.

Chilling Out by the Harbour

    In the evening we wandered off to the yacht basin club for a drink and a meal. On our way, we met a couple who I exchanged pleasantries with in Dutch. A short distance further on, we paused for Rex to admire yet another Dutch boat, and the couple caught us up and started talking to us in English. We learned that they were originally Dutch, but had lived for the last 60 years in Melbourne, Australia, where their children and grandchildren lived. The duo were on an 11 week tour of Europe. They had hired a car in Brussels, and today had discovered Brouwershaven. They were a sociable, amicable couple, but I had to pinch myself since the woman sounded exactly like Dame Edna Everage.
    We ordered drinks and food in the club; we were the only customers. A young lad served as barman and chef. When he delivered our food, we started chatting with him. He recognised us from the yacht basin club in Middelburg, the night the Netherlands played Australia. What a small world, and we were amazed that he remembered us. The company he worked for ran the club restaurants in Brouwershaven, Middelburg and Veere. He made sure he filled our glasses to the brim. I got him to take a picture of us; the cheeky lad took a brilliant picture of himself, and abysmal pictures of us. We could not complain about the food though.
    When we returned to our boat, Rex got chatting to a Dutch chap on the boat behind us. The poor fellow was trying to feed his jib into the foil on his self-furling gear, and Rex provided the spare pair of hands in hauling up the halyard. A few days earlier the bloke had been rammed on the bow by a motor boat, causing him to clout his head on the mast. It had taken the man and his brother four days to straighten out the mess. I took that to mean his boat and not his head.
    For some inexplicable reason, Rex had a senior moment and decided to emulate his Dutch kindred spirits and clean the stern of the boat. Meryl then decided to leap up and show him how to do it properly. I can't remember what I said, but she responded in a most uncharacteristic manner. Hmm... I will have to watch what I say in future.