Maeslantkering
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The Maeslantkering is a storm surge
Storm surge
A storm surge is an offshore rise of water associated with a low pressure weather system, typically tropical cyclones and strong extratropical cyclones. Storm surges are caused primarily by high winds pushing on the ocean's surface. The wind causes the water to pile up higher than the ordinary sea...
barrier in the Nieuwe Waterweg
Nieuwe Waterweg
The Nieuwe Waterweg is a ship canal in the Netherlands from het Scheur west of the town of Maassluis to the North Sea at Hook of Holland...
waterway located between the towns of Hoek van Holland
Hoek van Holland
The Hook of Holland , also known in English as the Hook, is a town in South Holland in the Netherlands. It is situated on the North Sea coast, on the north bank of the Nieuwe Waterweg ship canal. The town is administered by the municipality of Rotterdam as a district of that city...
and Maassluis
Maassluis
Maassluis is a town in the western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland. The municipality had a population of 32,847 in 2004, and covers an area of 10.11 km² .It received city rights in 1811...
, Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
, 51°57′18.98"N 4°09′49.63"E, which automatically closes when needed. It is part of the Delta Works
Delta Works
The Delta Works is a series of construction projects in the southwest of the Netherlands to protect a large area of land around the Rhine-Meuse-Scheldt delta from the sea. The works consist of dams, sluices, locks, dikes, levees, and storm surge barriers...
and it is one of largest moving structures on Earth
Earth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun, and the densest and fifth-largest of the eight planets in the Solar System. It is also the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial planets...
rivalling the Green Bank Telescope
Green Bank Telescope
The Robert C. Byrd Green Bank Telescope is the world's largest fully steerable radio telescope and the world's largest land-based movable structure. It is part of the National Radio Astronomy Observatory site at Green Bank, West Virginia, USA. The telescope honors the name of the late Senator...
in the USA
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and the Bagger 288 excavator
Bagger 288
Bagger 288 , built by the German company Krupp for the energy and mining firm Rheinbraun, is a bucket-wheel excavator or mobile strip mining machine...
in Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
.
The initial plan
The construction of the Maeslantkering was a part of the "Europoortkering"-project which, in turn, was the final stage of the Delta WorksDelta Works
The Delta Works is a series of construction projects in the southwest of the Netherlands to protect a large area of land around the Rhine-Meuse-Scheldt delta from the sea. The works consist of dams, sluices, locks, dikes, levees, and storm surge barriers...
. The main objective of this Europoortkering-project was improving the safety against flooding of the Rotterdam
Rotterdam
Rotterdam is the second-largest city in the Netherlands and one of the largest ports in the world. Starting as a dam on the Rotte river, Rotterdam has grown into a major international commercial centre...
harbour, of which the Europoort
Europoort
Europoort is an area of the Port of Rotterdam and the adjoining industrial area in the Netherlands. Being situated at the mouth of the rivers Rhine and Meuse with the hinterland consisting of the Netherlands, Germany, Belgium and partly France, Europoort is by certain measurements the world's...
is an important part, and the surrounding towns and agricultural areas. This had to be carried out by the reinforcement of existing dikes as far as 50 kilometres inland. During the 1980s it became clear that this project would take at least 30 years and would cost a huge amount of money. It would also mean that historic town centres, sometimes built more than four centuries ago, had to be broken down and rebuilt behind renewed, larger dikes.
Therefore the initial plan was put aside and the Ministry of Waterways and Public Works organised a competition in which construction companies could make plans for the construction of a reliable yet relatively cheap storm surge barrier.
The storm surge barrier
This storm surge barrier had to be located in the Nieuwe WaterwegNieuwe Waterweg
The Nieuwe Waterweg is a ship canal in the Netherlands from het Scheur west of the town of Maassluis to the North Sea at Hook of Holland...
waterway. This played an important role in the planning stage of the construction, as this waterway is the main route to the port of Rotterdam, at that time the world's largest port. Therefore a barrier like the Dutch Oosterscheldekering
Oosterscheldekering
The Oosterscheldekering , between the islands Schouwen-Duiveland and Noord-Beveland, is the largest of the 13 ambitious Delta works series of dams, designed to protect the Netherlands from flooding...
and the Thames Barrier
Thames Barrier
The Thames Barrier is the world's second-largest movable flood barrier and is located downstream of central London. Its purpose is to prevent London from being flooded by exceptionally high tides and storm surges moving up from the sea...
could not be constructed, as such a barrier would block the shipping route.
The winning plan called for two large floating gates on both levees of the waterway
Waterway
A waterway is any navigable body of water. Waterways can include rivers, lakes, seas, oceans, and canals. In order for a waterway to be navigable, it must meet several criteria:...
. A major advantage of this plan was that construction of the storm surge barrier could take place under dry conditions, in dry dock
Dry dock
A drydock is a narrow basin or vessel that can be flooded to allow a load to be floated in, then drained to allow that load to come to rest on a dry platform...
s. Other advantages were that no vital parts of the barrier had to be placed under water, and maintenance of the barrier would be easy because of the dry docks. And, of course, there would be almost no inconvenience for passing ships.
Construction of the barrier
The construction of the barrier started in 1991. First the dry docks were constructed on both shores and a sillSill plate
A sill plate or sole plate in construction and architecture is the bottom horizontal member of a wall or building to which vertical members are attached. Sill plates are usually composed of lumber. It usually comes in sizes of 2×4, 2×6, 2×8, and 2×10. In the platform framing method the sill plate...
was constructed at the bottom of the Nieuwe Waterweg. Then the two 22 metre high and 210 metre long steel gates were built. After this, 237 metre long steel trusses were welded to the gates. Standing upright, these arms would be as high as the Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
Eiffel Tower
Eiffel Tower
The Eiffel Tower is a puddle iron lattice tower located on the Champ de Mars in Paris. Built in 1889, it has become both a global icon of France and one of the most recognizable structures in the world...
, but each one weighs two times more than the Eiffel Tower. The main purpose of the arms is transmitting the immense forces, exerted on the gates while closed, to one single joint at the rear of each gate. During the closing or opening process, this ball shaped joint gives the gate the opportunity to move freely under the influences of water, wind and waves. It acts like as a ball and socket joint
Ball and socket joint
A ball and socket joint is a joint in which the distal bone is capable of motion around an indefinite number of axes, which have one common center...
, such as in the human shoulder or hip. The joints were made in the Czech republic
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest....
at Škoda Works
Škoda Works
Škoda Works was the largest industrial enterprise in Austro-Hungary and later in Czechoslovakia, one of its successor states. It was also one of the largest industrial conglomerates in Europe in the 20th century...
. The ball shaped joint is the largest in the world, with a diameter of 10 metres, and weighing 680 tons. The construction of the barrier cost 450 million euro
Euro
The euro is the official currency of the eurozone: 17 of the 27 member states of the European Union. It is also the currency used by the Institutions of the European Union. The eurozone consists of Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg,...
. The total Europoortkering-project had cost 660 million euro.
A working 1:250 scale version of the barrier was constructed in the Madurodam
Madurodam
Madurodam is a miniature city located in Scheveningen, The Hague, in the Netherlands. It is a model of a Dutch town on a 1:25 scale, composed of typical Dutch buildings and landmarks, as are found at various locations in the country. This major Dutch tourist attraction was built in 1952 and has...
miniature village. Its construction took six months. It took six years to construct the real barrier.
Another miniature version can be seen in visitors centre het Keringhuis next to the Maeslantkering. This information centre is opened everyday, and entrance is free.
Maeslantkering in operation
On May 10, 1997, after six years of construction, Queen BeatrixBeatrix of the Netherlands
Beatrix is the Queen regnant of the Kingdom of the Netherlands comprising the Netherlands, Curaçao, Sint Maarten, and Aruba. She is the first daughter of Queen Juliana of the Netherlands and Prince Bernhard of Lippe-Biesterfeld. She studied law at Leiden University...
opened the Maeslantkering. The barrier is connected to a self-operating computer system which is linked to weather and sea level data. Under normal weather conditions the two doors themselves are well protected in their dry docks and a 360 metre wide gap in the waterway gives ships enough space to pass without any inconvenience. But when a storm surge of 3 metres above normal sea level is anticipated in Rotterdam, the barrier will be closed automatically. Four hours before the actual closing procedure begins, incoming and outgoing ships are warned. Two hours before closing the traffic at the Nieuwe Waterweg comes to a standstill. Thirty minutes before closing the dry docks that contain the gates are flooded. After this the gates start to float and two so-called "locomobiles" move the gates towards each other. When the gap between the gates is about 1.5 metre wide, water is let inside the hollows of the gates, so that they submerge to the bottom of the waterway. The bottom has been elaborately dug and then laid with layers of broken stone, so that the gates are able to form a relatively watertight fit when submerged. In cases where the gates have to be shut for a prolonged period, which would cause the waters of the Rhine to rise behind them, the gate hollows are partly emptied and floated, so that excess river water runs out to sea, before they are submerged again. The decision-making algorithm that sequences storm surge-triggered events in the Maeslantkering is run entirely by computer.
The Maeslantkering is expected to be closed once every ten years due to a storm surge. With the rise in sea levels the storm surge barrier will need to close more frequently in 50 years time, namely once every five years. In its first ten years of operation the barrier was never closed due to a storm. There was one incident when a storm surge of 3 metres was predicted and the protective sequence was commenced. However, during the course of the storm, predictions were revised to a 2.99 m surge and the computer cancelled closure . Eventually the surge passed harmlessly and the waterway remained open. During the evening of November 8, 2007 the barrier was closed due to a storm surge for the first time. The barrier is closed for testing once a year, usually in September or October, just before the beginning of the storm season in November.
The Calandkanaal (Caland canal), located just south of the Nieuwe Waterweg and visible in some images on this page, is protected by the much smaller Hartelkering
Hartelkering
The Hartelkering is a storm surge barrier in Spijkenisse, in the Netherlands. The barrier is part of the Delta Works and is designed to close the Hartelkanaal in case of a storm surge....
storm surge barrier. This barrier is constructed some 5 kilometres further inland.
The software that drives it is written in C++
C++
C++ is a statically typed, free-form, multi-paradigm, compiled, general-purpose programming language. It is regarded as an intermediate-level language, as it comprises a combination of both high-level and low-level language features. It was developed by Bjarne Stroustrup starting in 1979 at Bell...
and consists of 200,000 lines of code for the operational system and 250,000 lines of code for the simulation systems
The barrier is designed to withstand a storm that has an occurrence of only 1/10,000 per year (based on the climate at the time, but this may have to be adjusted for the climate change
Climate change
Climate change is a significant and lasting change in the statistical distribution of weather patterns over periods ranging from decades to millions of years. It may be a change in average weather conditions or the distribution of events around that average...
).
8 November 2007 storm
In order to test the barrier in actual stormy conditions, the water level threshold at which the barrier will start the closing procedure had been lowered from 3.0m over NAPNormaal Amsterdams Peil
Normaal Amsterdams Peil or Amsterdam Ordnance Datum is a vertical datum in use in large parts of Western Europe. Originally created for use in the Netherlands, it was adopted by Prussia in 1879 under the name Normalnull, and in 1955 by other European countries.Mayor Johannes Hudde of Amsterdam in...
to 2.6m, for the duration of the 2007 storm season. On 8 November 2007 a storm from the north-west hit the Dutch coast. A storm surge, high enough to start the barrier's closing procedure, occurred. The barrier was closed due to a storm surge for the first time since its construction http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7086175.stm. As the Oosterscheldekering
Oosterscheldekering
The Oosterscheldekering , between the islands Schouwen-Duiveland and Noord-Beveland, is the largest of the 13 ambitious Delta works series of dams, designed to protect the Netherlands from flooding...
and Hartelkering
Hartelkering
The Hartelkering is a storm surge barrier in Spijkenisse, in the Netherlands. The barrier is part of the Delta Works and is designed to close the Hartelkanaal in case of a storm surge....
storm surge barriers were also closed, the entire Dutch coast was protected against flooding for the first time since 1976. At 22.00h local time (CET), Dutch TV brought the news that maritime traffic on the Nieuwe Waterweg
Nieuwe Waterweg
The Nieuwe Waterweg is a ship canal in the Netherlands from het Scheur west of the town of Maassluis to the North Sea at Hook of Holland...
was shut off. The closing procedure of the Maeslantkering started at 23.10h. The barrier was completely closed at 01.00h and was reopened on 9 November around 18.00h.
In popular culture
- The barrier was featured on the US television program Extreme EngineeringExtreme EngineeringExtreme Engineering is a documentary television series that airs on the Discovery Channel and the Science Channel. The program features futuristic and ongoing engineering projects. As of April 2011, the show is airing its ninth season. Danny Forster first hosted the series in season 4 and has been...
. - The barrier was also featured on the History Channel television program Modern MarvelsModern MarvelsModern Marvels is a documentary television series that premiered on January 1, 1995 on History. The program focuses on how technologies affect and are used in today's society....
during Levees Education. (2006)
External links
- www.keringhuis.nl - Comprehensive home page of the Maeslant Barrier, with a lot of interesting flash movies
- DeltaWorks.Org - DeltaWorks Online reports on Maeslantbarrier. Includes video, virtual tour and flash animations
- Storm Surge Warning Service - home page of the Dutch storm surge warning service
- Google Maps - Aerial photograph on Google Maps