Today we spent the day at Deltaworks, a tourist attraction and park in Zeeland that educates others on the Delta project and flood control. This project began shortly after the catastrophic flood that occurred on February 1, 1953, when several dikes collapsed and over 1,800 people lost their lives. The Netherlands decided that they had to create a permanent solution to protect the coasts, so the Delta plan was put into action. We learned through an informational video at the beginning of our visit that this plan consisted of several dikes, dams, locks, and storm surge barriers all around the Netherlands to shorten the coastline and reduce the number of dikes that had to be strengthened and raised.
During our time at Deltaworks, we got to see the Oosterscheldekering, one of their largest projects made of dams and storm surge barriers. This was created by the Dutch in 1986 to prevent the North Sea from flooding the Netherlands. This storm surge barrier consists of a complex series of structures made of concrete, iron, rocks, sand, and steel gates which can close during extremely bad weather and withstand strong waves and windstorms. We even got to see some of the engineering behind these structures, since they were built separately and transported into their respective places in the water, which was super fascinating! The barrier itself is huge with 65 pillars, and the smallest one is 100 feet high. During our short tour of the facility, we learned that the Oosterscheldekering gates have been closed 32 times since they were first built. Besides these few instances where they are closed for several hours, the gates remain open to refrain from disrupting the environment and wildlife.
Following an informational video and tour, our group watched a 4D panoramic video that they called “The Delta Experience.” All of us entered a dark room set up like a home and then listened to the story of a family who survived the flood that occurred in 1953. We then entered another room, which was dark and featured loudspeakers and a long screen picturing a young boy stuck and separated from his parents in their family home, while flood waters rushed across the ground following the breach of the dikes. I found this especially hard to watch as it allowed me to see what this tragic event was like in an almost first-hand way. Seeing the water rush across the screen and listening to it tear down trees and homes made me reflect on our time at the Watersnoodmuseum a few days ago where we learned about all of those who lost their lives.
We were able to sit down for a brief lunch after learning all about the history behind flooding and flood control in the Netherlands before we headed on to explore the rest of the activities the park had to offer. My friends and I walked around outside for a while and saw a few sea lions and seals in pools and entered an aquarium that had all sorts of wildlife. I will say that I definitely enjoyed seeing these mammals and marine life, but I was not a fan of how small the enclosures and pools were. The park also featured a small waterslide, which I did not try out, but my friends seemed to like it!
The last part of our time at Deltaworks consisted of a short boat ride on the sea, which took us all out to get a closer look at the Oosterschelde. While I was on the boat, I tried to imagine what it must have been like to construct all of those large parts of the barrier and place them correctly. It must have taken immense precision as well as lots of patience! Overall, today was very informative! Before this trip, I had little knowledge of flood control and was unfamiliar with the Delta project and the struggles the Netherlands faced with their low-lying land. I enjoyed learning more about this project and how the Netherlands protects its land and its residents from the sea.
