Afsluitdijk

The Afsluitdijk (Enclosing Dike) which closes off the IJsselmeer, 30km/18.5mi long by 90m/100yd across, links the provinces of Noord-Holland and Friesland. Built between 1927 and 1932, it converted the Zuiderzee into an inland lake, now known as the IJsselmeer. The Zuiderzee itself was an inland lake until Roman times; but during the early Middle Ages the level of the North Sea rose and gigantic storm tides broke through the land and made the Zuiderzee an inlet of the sea. Thereafter the government and people of the Netherlands wrestled with the problem of recovering the land drowned by the sea; but it was not until the 19th century that the technological resources for carrying through such a project became available. After severe food