The Afsluitdijk, a 32-kilometer-long water barrier between North Holland and Friesland, has acted as a physical barrier for 90 years, separating IJsselmeer from Wadden Sea. This imposing dike plays a vital role in protecting the Netherlands from flooding.

The Afsluitdijk has two lock complexes, the Stevin and Lorentz locks, each consisting of a sluice for the management of the water management in the IJsselmeer and lock locks for shipping. The complexes were opened in 1931 and 1932, when the dike was completed.

If the Wadden Sea is lower than the IJsselmeer, we drain the excess water from the IJsselmeer using the discharge sluices in the Afsluitdijk. We can drain less water because of the rising sea level. The water supplied to the IJsselmeer by rivers and adjacent areas increases as well.

The Afsluitdijk is a fundamental part of the larger Zuiderzee Works, damming off the Zuiderzee, a salt water inlet of the North Sea, and turning it into the fresh water lake of the IJsselmeer. It is a major land reclamation project and provides a road connection between the North and West of …

The Afsluitdijk, a remarkable engineering marvel in the Netherlands, has been a symbol of Dutch water management and connectivity for nearly a century. Stretching 32 kilometers across the IJsselmeer, this monumental dike was completed in 1932 to protect the low-lying Dutch landscape from the ravages of the North Sea and to tame the Zuiderzee ...

The Afsluitdijk has been protecting large parts of the Netherlands from North Sea since 1932. Sitting 23.8 feet above mean sea level, it consists of a 32 km tidal closure dike, 25 discharge sluices, and two sets of navigation locks.

Several additional measures are being taken to improve the safety of the Afsluitdijk. These include the construction of new sluices and the installation of pumps. The sluices at Den Oever and Kornwerderzand will be reinforced and floodgates will be built in front of the navigation locks on the Wadden Sea side.

We plan to make the dike overlow-resistant by replacing the outer cladding and will strengthen the sluices and locks. We are also going to install powerful pumps in the sluice complex at Den Oever so that more surplus water can be discharged from the IJsselmeer into the Wadden Sea.

Reinforcing the Afsluitdijk The Afsluitdijk is over 80 years old and has protected the Netherlands against the water since its construction. Nowadays, it no longer meets the stringent requirements for water safety. This is why Rijkswaterstaat will reinforce the dyke between 2018 and 2022. They will take into account the changing circumstances

Sep 12, 2024 · Commissioned by Levvel, we are currently working on a collaborative project to expand the sluice complex along Afsluitdijk. To ensure water discharge capacity, additional drainage and pumping capacities were created at Den Oever. Two groups of sluice gates were then constructed in the ‘intermediate’ islands of the existing sluice complex.