| Veerse Meer | |
|---|---|
 | |
  Veerse Meer | |
| Location | Zeeland |
| Coordinates | 51°31′N3°43′E / 51.517°N 3.717°E |
| Type | artificial lagoon, brackish |
| Basin countries | Netherlands |
| Max. length | 22 km (14 mi) |
| Max. width | 1,500 m (4,900 ft) |
| Islands | 13 |
| Settlements | Veere |
| Designated | 29 August 2000 |
| Reference no. | 1251 [1] |
The Veerse Meer (Lake Veere) is a lagoon in the southwest Netherlands in the province of Zeeland.
The Veerse Meer was created as a flood control measure to regulate water levels in the surrounding polders, acting as a drainage basin for the surrounding polders until its excess waters can be discharged into the Eastern Scheldt. [1] Its level are lowered in the winter to help drain the polders and maintained at a higher level in the summer for recreation. [2]
Originally an outlet of the Scheldt called the Veerse Gat to the west which met with the Zandkreek to the east, it was first closed off from the Scheldt by the Zandkreekdam in 1960, and from the North Sea in 1961 by Veerse Gatdam, some of the first constructions of the Delta Works water management system. [3] [2] In 2004, the Katse Heule sluice was constructed in the Zanderkreekdam to allow saltwater to flow in from the Eastern Scheldt to improve water quality and return this former river mouth to its original brackish state. [3] [1]
It is 22 km long, and 1,500 m wide in places. Lying between the old islands of Noord-Beveland, Zuid-Beveland and Walcheren, it is linked to the river Scheldt by the Zandkreekdam sluice, which allows this lagoon to have brackish water, slightly less salty than sea water. There are 13 small uninhabited islands in the lake. Some of its banks, underwater at high tide, have been made into nature reserves, while others are popular for water sports, such as sailing.
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. Constructed between 1954 and 1997, the works consist of dams, sluices, locks, dykes, levees, and storm surge barriers located in the provinces of South Holland and Zeeland.
The Eastern Scheldt is a former estuary in the province of Zeeland, Netherlands, between Schouwen-Duiveland and Tholen on the north and Noord-Beveland and Zuid-Beveland on the south. It also features the largest national park in the Netherlands, founded in 2002.
Walcheren is a region and former island in the Dutch province of Zeeland at the mouth of the Scheldt estuary. It lies between the Eastern Scheldt in the north and the Western Scheldt in the south and is roughly the shape of a rhombus. The two sides facing the North Sea consist of dunes and the rest of its coastline is made up of dykes. Middelburg, the provincial capital, lies at Walcheren's centre. Vlissingen, 9 kilometres (5.6 mi) to the south, is the main harbour and the third municipality is Veere.
The Afsluitdijk is a major dam and causeway in the Netherlands. It was constructed between 1927 and 1932 and runs from Den Oever in North Holland province to the village of Zurich in Friesland province, over a length of 32 kilometres (20 mi) and a width of 90 metres (300 ft), at an initial height above Amsterdam Ordnance Datum of between 6.7 metres (22 ft) along the section at Friesland, and 7.4 metres (24 ft) where it crosses the deep channel of the Vlieter. The height at the greater sea depths west of Friesland was required to be a minimum of 7 metres everywhere when originally constructed.
Zuid-Beveland is part of the province of Zeeland in the Netherlands north of the Western Scheldt and south of the Eastern Scheldt.
Rijkswaterstaat, founded in 1798 as the Bureau voor den Waterstaat and formerly translated to Directorate General for Public Works and Water Management, is a Directorate-General of the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management of the Netherlands. Its role is the practical execution of the public works and water management, including the construction and maintenance of waterways and roads, and flood protection and prevention. The agency was also involved in the construction of big railway projects such as the Betuweroute and the HSL-Zuid.
The Keeten-Mastgat is a body of water in the Dutch province of Zeeland. It used to be an estuary of the Rhine and Meuse rivers, but today it is only connected to the Oosterschelde. It still receives some water from its former tributaries, but only when the Krammer-Volkerak receives too much water from the Hollands Diep.
The Krammer is a body of fresh water located in the western part of Volkerak in the Netherlands.
The Philipsdam is a compartmentalisation dam constructed as part of the Delta Works in the Netherlands. It separates water of the lakes Krammer and Volkerak from the Oosterschelde, and connects the Grevelingendam to Sint Philipsland.
The Brouwersdam is the seventh structure of the Delta Works in the Netherlands, forming a barrier across the former estuary known as the Brouwershavense Gat. As a result, the area of water became known as the Grevelingenmeer.
The Voorne Canal is a former ship canal on Voorne-Putten in South Holland, the Netherlands. It was the first canal to connect Rotterdam to the sea. Construction of the canal started in 1826 and was completed in 1829. Until the completion of the Nieuwe Waterweg in 1872 it was the main connection from Rotterdam to the sea for ocean going ships.
The Oesterdam is a compartmentalisation dam in The Netherlands, situated between Tholen and South Beveland in the eastern part of the Eastern Scheldt. The dam, with a length of 10.5 kilometres, is the longest structure built for the Delta Works. The Oesterdam was necessitated, like the Philipsdam, after the decision was taken to close off the Eastern Scheldt with a storm surge barrier, rather than a solid dam.
The Markiezaatskade is a compartmentalisation dam in The Netherlands, situated between South Beveland and Molenplaat, near Bergen op Zoom. The dam was constructed as part of the Delta Works, and has a length of 4 kilometres.
The Veerse Gatdam is a man-made barrier across the former Eastern Scheldt estuary branch known as the Veerse Gat, between Walcheren and Noord-Beveland islands in Zeeland, Netherlands. The barrier was completed on 27 April 1961. Because of the completion of this barrier and the completion of the Zandkreekdam a year prior on the eastern end of the waterway, the Veerse Meer was created. The Veerse Gatdam is the third structure constructed as part of the Delta Works water management system. The N57 motorway runs along the top of the barrier.
The Volkerakdam or Volkerakwerken is the name given to a group of hydraulic engineering structures between Goeree-Overflakkee and North Brabant in the Netherlands. The works are not a single dam, but are composed of three distinct structures: a dam between Goeree-Overflakkee and Hellegatsplein, a series of locks from Hellegatsplein to North Brabant, and a bridge from Hellegatsplein to Hoekse Waard. The works cross three separate bodies of water: the Haringvliet, Hollands Diep and Volkerak. The works together comprise the fifth project of the Delta Works.
The Grevelingendam is a dam located in the Grevelingen sea inlet between Schouwen-Duiveland and Goeree-Overflakkee in The Netherlands. The Grevelingendam was the fourth structure constructed as part of the Delta Works.
The Stormvloedkering Hollandse IJssel, Hollandse IJsselkering or Algerakering is a storm surge barrier located on the Hollandse IJssel, at the municipal boundary of Capelle aan den IJssel and Krimpen aan den IJssel, east of Rotterdam in The Netherlands. The construction of the works comprised the first project of the Delta Works, undertaken in response to the disastrous effects of the North Sea flood of 1953. Prior to 1954, the spelling Hollandsche was used in the official name.
The Zandkreekdam is a compartmentalisation dam located approximately 3 kilometres north of the city of Goes in The Netherlands, which connects Zuid-Beveland with Noord-Beveland, and separates the Oosterschelde from the Veerse Meer.
Pieter Abraham van de Velde was a Dutch civil engineer and professor of road and hydraulic engineering. He contributed to several major water engineering projects in the Netherlands, notably the drainage of Walcheren at the end of the Second World War, dike restorations following the 1953 North Sea flood, and the Deltaplan.
