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The Eastern Schelde Storm Surge Barrier

The Eastern Schelde, Oosterschelde, was originally built as a dam closing up the Easten Scheldt. It started with three man-made construction islands, Roggenplaat, Neeltje Jan and Noordland. This was in 1967. A dam was starting to be built between the last two but it did not last long. A big social debate started because the Easter Scheldt was, and thanks to this still is, very valuable for various kinds of animals. The clean, salty water provides rich feeding grounds for many kinds of animals, fishes use it as a nursery and large-scale oyster and mussel farming take place here. The mudflats, marshes and sandbars is also very appreciated by birds. If the Eastern Scheldt would have been closed of by a dam, all of this would be lost forever.

In 1975, the government made the desicion to build a storm surge barrier with moveable gates. This would keep the area from flooding while at the same time protect the environment. The barrier is more than 3,200 metres long and based on a strong foundation and consists of 65 hollow concrete piers with an hight of 30 to 40 metres each. It has 62 steel gates that can be raised and lowered depending on the level of the water. These are controlled from a service building on Neeltje Jans and most of the year they are open. About twice a year the gates must be lowered because of extremely high water levels. The only time they are closed is when the water level is more than three metres above NAP, short for Normal Amsterdam Level, and the minimum safe height. This is very carefully planned and if something would go wrong with the alarm system or the controls, the gates closes automatically. The barrier was officially opened on the 4th of October 1986 by Queen Beatrix and it is a part of the Delta project.