View of the ringvaart north of Cruquius looking further north towards the location of the info boardThe aqueduct over the A4 HighwayJust north of geniedijk, view east of ringvaart aqueduct over Zuid Tangent bus line
The Ringvaart (known in full as Ringvaart of the Haarlemmermeer Polder) is a canal in the province of North Holland, the Netherlands. The Ringvaart (Dutch meaning "ring canal") is a true circular canal surrounding the Haarlemmermeerpolder and forms the boundary of the Haarlemmermeer municipality. Ringvaart is also the name of the dike bordering the canal.
Construction of the canal began in 1839 as the first step to reclaim land from Haarlemmermeer (Dutch for Haarlem's Lake). Thousands of laborers dug a canal through the existing land, as much as possible closely following the lake's contour. But at three locations (Vijfhuizen, Lisserbroek, and Huigsloot), the Ringvaart was dug through peninsulas which thereafter became part of Haarlemmermeer.
In 1845, the canal was completed and the lake could be drained, using the Ringvaart to drain the excess waters. The canal is 61kilometres (38mi) long, and 2.4metres (8ft) deep. It encloses an area of more than 180square kilometres (70sq mi). The removed earth was used to build a ring dike from 30 to 50 metres (30 to 54 yd) wide around the polder.
The Ringvaart is used for commercial and recreational boat traffic. A portion of it forms part of the sailroute from Hollands Diep to the IJsselmeer, passable for ships with masts over 6meters (20ft) tall.
Near Roelofarendsveen, the Ringvaart crosses the A4 Highway by means of a navigable aqueduct. It was built in 1961, making it the oldest aqueduct in the Netherlands. In 2006, construction was completed of two new portions: on the east side for crossing new north-bound lanes for the expanded highway; and on the west side for the new HSL-Zuid high-speed railway. The new aqueduct is 1.8kilometres (1.1mi) long.[citation needed]
World Heritage Site
The Pump House Cruquius, which was used to drain the lake, is a Dutch Rijksmonument for the history of the James Watt steam engine within. The Ringvaart, the Cruquius Pump House, the dike itself, and various other components such as aqueducts, bridges and defense bunkers located south of the dike of the Stelling van Amsterdam (Defense line of Amsterdam) are considered a World Heritage Site. The main dike of the Stelling van Amsterdam runs diagonally across the Haarlemmermeer polder and crosses the Ringvaart twice. Fort Vijfhuizen located on the Ringvaart is used for art exhibitions.
The Zuiderzee Works is a man-made system of dams and dikes, land reclamation and water drainage work, in total the largest hydraulic engineering project undertaken by the Netherlands during the twentieth century. The project involved the damming of the Zuiderzee, a large, shallow inlet of the North Sea, and the reclamation of land in the newly enclosed water using polders. Its main purposes are to improve flood protection and create additional land for agriculture.
Beemster is a municipality in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. The Beemster is the first so-called polder in the Netherlands that was reclaimed from a lake, the water being extracted from the lake by windmills. The Beemster Polder was dried during the period 1609 through 1612. It has preserved intact its well-ordered landscape of fields, roads, canals, dykes and settlements, laid out in accordance with classical and Renaissance planning principles. A grid of canals parallels the grid of roads in the Beemster. The grids are offset: the larger feeder canals are offset by approximately one kilometer from the larger roads.
Haarlemmermeer is a municipality in the west of the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. Haarlemmermeer is a polder, consisting of land reclaimed from water. The name Haarlemmermeer means Haarlem's lake, referring to the body of water from which the region was reclaimed in the 19th century.
The North Sea Canal is a Dutch ship canal from Amsterdam to the North Sea at IJmuiden, constructed between 1865 and 1876 to enable seafaring vessels to reach the port of Amsterdam. This man-made channel terminates at Amsterdam in the closed-off IJ Bay, which in turn connects to the Amsterdam-Rhine Canal.
Hoofddorp is the main town of the Haarlemmermeer municipality in the province of North Holland in the Netherlands. In 2009, the population was just over 73,000. The town was founded in 1853, immediately after the Haarlemmermeer had been drained. Hoofddorp is located 52° 18′ 21.96″ N and 4° 41′ 26.52″ E.
The Spaarne is a river in North Holland, Netherlands. This partially canalized river connects the Ringvaart to a side branch of the North Sea Canal. It runs through Haarlem, Heemstede, and Spaarndam.
The UNESCO World Heritage Site known as the Defence Line of Amsterdam is a 135-kilometre (84 mi) ring of fortifications around Amsterdam. It has 42 forts that are 10–15 kilometres (6.2–9.3 mi) from the centre and lowlands, which can easily be flooded in time of war. The flooding was designed to give a depth of about 30 centimetres (12 in), too little for boats to cross. Any buildings within 1 kilometre (0.62 mi) of the line had to be made of wood so that they could be burnt and the obstruction removed.
Jan Adriaanszoon Leeghwater was a Dutch architect, mill builder and hydraulic engineer.
Cruquius is a village in the Dutch province of North Holland. It is a part of the municipality of Haarlemmermeer, and lies about 4 km northwest of Hoofddorp.
Zwanenburg is a town in the Dutch province of North Holland. It is a part of the municipality of Haarlemmermeer, and lies about 11 km west of Amsterdam.
Badhoevedorp is a town in the Dutch province of North Holland. It is a part of the municipality of Haarlemmermeer, and lies next to the Ringvaart around Haarlemmermeer at the side of the polder bordering Amsterdam / Amstelveen.
Halfweg is a town in the Dutch province of North Holland. Previously a part of the municipality of Haarlemmerliede en Spaarnwoude, it is currently a part of the municipality of Haarlemmermeer and lies about 8 km (5.0 mi) east of Haarlem. Its name, which translates as "halfway," comes from its location approximately halfway between Haarlem and Amsterdam.
Flood control is an important issue for the Netherlands, as due to its low elevation, approximately two thirds of its area is vulnerable to flooding, while the country is densely populated. Natural sand dunes and constructed dikes, dams, and floodgates provide defense against storm surges from the sea. River dikes prevent flooding from water flowing into the country by the major rivers Rhine and Meuse, while a complicated system of drainage ditches, canals, and pumping stations keep the low-lying parts dry for habitation and agriculture. Water control boards are the independent local government bodies responsible for maintaining this system.
The Haarlemmertrekvaart [ˌhaːrlɛmərˈtrɛkfaːrt] is a canal between Amsterdam and Haarlem in the province of North Holland, the Netherlands. It was dug in 1631, making it the oldest tow-canal in Holland. Travel on such canals was historically done by barges which were towed by animals on a path along the canal's edge (towpath).
The Museum De Cruquius occupies the old Cruquius steam pumping station in Cruquius, the Netherlands. It derives its name from Nicolaas Kruik (1678–1754), a Dutch land-surveyor and one of many promoters of a plan to pump the Haarlemmermeer dry. Like many well-educated men of his time, he latinized his name to Nicolaus Samuel Cruquius. During his lifetime the issue of the Haarlem Lake and how to pump it dry was international news, as the following excerpt from the Virginia Gazette on 31 May 1751 illustrates:
Fort Vijfhuizen is one of forty-two forts in the Defense Line of Amsterdam, a World Heritage Site. It is located in the town of Vijfhuizen on the ringvaart which surrounds the Haarlemmermeer polder. The main fort is currently maintained by a charitable foundation called Kunstfort Vijfhuizen which leases space for twelve artist studios and a restaurant.
Huigsloot is a hamlet in the Dutch municipality of Haarlemmermeer, in the province of North Holland. It is located on the southeast of a polder, on Ringvaart, between Buitenkaag and Vredeburg.
The walls of Amsterdam were built in the Middle Ages to protect the city against attack. The Medieval walls were replaced with a series of bastions in the 17th century. In the 19th century, the walls were torn down and replaced with the Defence Line of Amsterdam, a fortification line which encircled Amsterdam at a distance from the city.
A naviduct is a special class of navigable aqueduct, in which the waterway also includes a lock. One example of a naviduct has been built at Enkhuizen on the Houtribdijk in the Netherlands on the instructions of the Rijkswaterstaat. This cost over €55 million and was completed in 2003. It is big enough to simultaneously transfer two large Rhine river-barges from the Markermeer to the IJsselmeer or vice versa. The structure was chosen because a busy waterway crosses a dam carrying a busy road, but the space available for separate aqueduct and lock facilities was restricted.
Land reclamation in the Netherlands has a long history. As early as in the 14th century, the first reclaimed land had been settled. Much of the modern land reclamation has been done as a part of the Zuiderzee Works since 1918.
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