Afsluitdijk
Landmark
A dam of 32 kilometres that turned a sea into a lake.
Until 1932 the Zuiderzee, an arm of the North Sea, reached deep into the Netherlands. Storms drove the water over the dykes again and again. So the Dutch closed the sea off with a dam, 32 kilometres long, straight through the water.
Behind the dam the salt sea slowly became a freshwater lake, the IJsselmeer. Part of it was pumped dry, and that is how the province of Flevoland came to be.
- long
- 32 km
- closed
- 1932
- wide
- 90 m
- 1
The last gap was closed on 28 May 1932. A monument stands on that spot.
- 2
A motorway runs over the dam. Driving across takes about twenty minutes.
- 3
Sluices let river water out into the sea at low tide, and locks let ships through.
Question 1 of 2
Read about the Netherlands