Retaining wall Harlingen...

Tomorrow it will be closed i think...
They expect increase of about 3 meters...

With the commissioning of the retaining wall (Aug. 2010) in Harlingen, after almost sixty years, the dikes around the Netherlands have been raised completely to Delta height. The flood of 1953 (in which nearly 2,000 people drowned) was the reason for the Delta Works, the world's largest infrastructural hydraulic engineering operation.

Harlingen was the last to be discussed because of the completion of urban developments in this only Frisian seaport city. That had to happen first. In addition, raising the Harlinger flood defenses was not the most urgent for many years. The construction of the retaining wall and the opening on August 24th was a wonderful symbolic and historical moment. The flood defence, which is 6.75 meters above NAP, is 500 meters long.

The construction of the retaining wall (costs € 40 million) is special, which springs back very slightly in the event of a storm surge, creating energy and making the wall extra strong 'push back' the water.

A passageway (with hydraulic lock gate) has been installed in the flood defense structure, which is made of basalt blocks, so that the Willemshaven area remains accessible to pedestrians. The passage looks nice. The Ministry of Transport, Public Works and Water Management takes the aesthetic aspect of the waterworks into account, senior official Wim Kuijken said. “We not only want to make the Netherlands safer, but also more beautiful. The recreation sector should benefit from what we are making in the coming years. It already appears that people are very interested in waterworks,' says Kuijken.

(from google, FrieseJournaal)