Delta Works
The Storm Surge Barriers And Dams Built After The 1953 Flood; The Eastern Scheldt Barrier (1986) Is The Largest, Visited At Neeltje Jans · Vrouwenpolder, Zeeland
The Delta Works are the Netherlands' answer to the sea: a chain of dams, sluices and storm-surge barriers across the estuaries of Zeeland and South Holland, built after the North Sea flood of the night of 31 January to 1 February 1953, when dikes failed across the south-west and about 1,800 people died in the Netherlands. The greatest of the works is the Eastern Scheldt storm surge barrier (Oosterscheldekering), opened in 1986: a dam kilometres long with a section of huge sliding steel gates between concrete pillars, left open to let the tide and the sea life in and closed only when a storm surge threatens. Visitors come to drive or cycle across it on the N57, to walk inside the works at Deltapark Neeltje Jans, and to understand why a country partly below sea level still exists; the Watersnoodmuseum in Ouwerkerk tells the human story of the flood, and the Maeslantkering near Rotterdam closes the story. The honest caveat: this is engineering in an empty, windswept landscape, parts of Neeltje Jans are seasonal, and without a car it takes planning.
Oosterscheldekering (Eastern Scheldt storm surge barrier) and Neeltje Jans, on the N57 between Schouwen-Duiveland and Noord-Beveland, Vrouwenpolder, Zeeland, Netherlands
The barrier and the N57 road across it are open at all hours, with free viewpoints and car parks on top. Deltapark Neeltje Jans is open daily in the main season (roughly spring to autumn) and on reduced days in winter, usually about 10:00-17:00 - confirm the calendar. The Watersnoodmuseum in Ouwerkerk usually closes on Mondays outside summer - confirm. Nearest trains stop at Middelburg and Goes; from there a regional bus crosses the barrier (check 9292). Drive via the N57. Book nothing except group tours; buy park tickets online for a small saving.