Haringvlietdam - 1971
The Haringvlietdam is the sixth construction of the Delta works and was finished in 1971. Work had been done for 14 years on the dam that had crossed over the 4.5 kilometres wide water between Goeree-Overflakkee and Voorne Putten.
Accept for the Oosterscheldekering, the building of the Haringvlietdam took up most of the time. The Haringvlietdam had 2 functions. First it had to protect the dam from a future water disaster. Secondly it had to let out the Rijn- and Maas water in the North sea. A closed dam could not have worked here. A choice was made to construct a sluice complex that could let large amounts of water through.
In total 17 sluices were built that could regulate the amount of water that runs through the Nieuwe Waterweg to the North sea. If the water level around Rotterdam gets to high, the special sluices can let through an extra amount of river water to the sea. Also a lift-lock was made for the boats and ships.
Damming the rest of the gap, workers used the cable way method, as done earlier on the Grevelingedam. To protect the nature, tunnels were made in a few of the columns. Fish could use these to swim in and out of the Haringvliet to the North sea, even when the sluices were closed.
For more information check: www.deltawerken.com/46.html
