Ringvaart
Encyclopedia
North Holland
North Holland |West Frisian]]: Noard-Holland) is a province situated on the North Sea in the northwest part of the Netherlands. The provincial capital is Haarlem and its largest city is Amsterdam.-Geography:...
, the Netherlands. The Ringvaart (Dutch
Dutch language
Dutch is a West Germanic language and the native language of the majority of the population of the Netherlands, Belgium, and Suriname, the three member states of the Dutch Language Union. Most speakers live in the European Union, where it is a first language for about 23 million and a second...
meaning "ring canal") is a true circular canal
Canal ring
A canal ring is the name given to a series of canals that make a complete loop.-Origin of the Term:Whilst there have been canals which formed a ring for centuries, the ring terminology was unknown before the 1960s, when it was coined by the Inland Waterways Association as part of its campaign to...
surrounding the Haarlemmermeer
Haarlemmermeer
Haarlemmermeer is a municipality in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. It is a polder, consisting of land reclaimed from water, and the name Haarlemmermeer means Haarlem's Lake, still referring to the body of water from which the region was reclaimed in the 19th century.Its main...
polder
Polder
A polder is a low-lying tract of land enclosed by embankments known as dikes, that forms an artificial hydrological entity, meaning it has no connection with outside water other than through manually-operated devices...
and forms the boundary of the Haarlemmermeer municipality. Ringvaart is also the name of the dike bordering the canal.
Construction of the canal began in 1839 as the first step to reclaim land
Land reclamation
Land reclamation, usually known as reclamation, is the process to create new land from sea or riverbeds. The land reclaimed is known as reclamation ground or landfill.- Habitation :...
from Haarlemmermeer (Dutch for Haarlem's Lake). Thousands of laborers dug a canal through the existing land, as much as possible closely following the lake's contour. But at three locations (Vijfhuizen, Lisserbroek, and Huigsloot), the Ringvaart was dug through peninsula
Peninsula
A peninsula is a piece of land that is bordered by water on three sides but connected to mainland. In many Germanic and Celtic languages and also in Baltic, Slavic and Hungarian, peninsulas are called "half-islands"....
s which thereafter became part of Haarlemmermeer.
In 1845, the canal was completed and the lake could be drained, using the Ringvaart to drain the excess waters. The canal is 61 kilometres (38 mi) long, and 2.4 metres (8 ft) deep. It encloses an area of more than 180 square kilometres (70 sq mi). The removed earth was used to build a ring dike from 30 to 50 metres (30 to 54 yd) wide around the polder.
The Ringvaart is used for commercial and recreational boat traffic. A portion of it forms part of the sailroute from Hollands Diep
Hollands Diep
Hollands Diep is a wide river in the Netherlands and an estuary of the Rhine and Meuse river. Through the Scheldt-Rhine Canal it connects to the Scheldt river and Antwerp....
to the IJsselmeer
IJsselmeer
IJsselmeer is a shallow artificial lake of 1100 km² in the central Netherlands bordering the provinces of Flevoland, North Holland and Friesland, with an average depth of 5 to 6 m. The IJsselmeer is the largest lake in Western Europe....
, passable for ships with masts over 6 meters (20 ft) tall.
Near Roelofarendsveen, the Ringvaart crosses the A4 Highway
A4 motorway (Netherlands)
The A4 motorway is a motorway in the Netherlands from Amsterdam to the Belgian border near Zandvliet. Some parts of the motorway are still not completed. The completed route as of 2006 is divided into three parts: from Amsterdam via The Hague to Delft, from Vlaardingen to Pernis, and finally from...
by means of an aqueduct
Aqueduct
An aqueduct is a water supply or navigable channel constructed to convey water. In modern engineering, the term is used for any system of pipes, ditches, canals, tunnels, and other structures used for this purpose....
. It was built in 1961, making it the oldest aqueduct in the Netherlands. In 2006, construction was completed of two new portions: on the east side for crossing new north-bound lanes for the expanded highway; and on the west side for the new HSL-Zuid
HSL-Zuid
HSL-Zuid , is a 125 km-long high-speed railway line in the Netherlands to the Belgian border, with a branch to Breda. Together with the Belgian HSL 4 it forms the Schiphol–Antwerp high-speed railway...
high-speed railway. The new aqueduct is 1.8 kilometres (1.1 mi) long.
World Heritage site
The Pump House CruquiusMuseum De Cruquius
The Museum De Cruquius occupies the old Cruquius steam pumping station in Cruquius, The Netherlands. It derives its name from Nicolaas Kruik , a Dutch land-surveyor and one of many promotors of a plan to pump the Haarlemmermeer dry. Like many well-educated men of his time, he latinized his name...
, which was used to drain the lake, is a Dutch Rijksmonument
Rijksmonument
A rijksmonument is a National Heritage Site of the Netherlands, listed by the agency Rijksdienst voor het Cultureel Erfgoed acting for the Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture and Science.-History and criteria:...
for the history of the James Watt
James Watt
James Watt, FRS, FRSE was a Scottish inventor and mechanical engineer whose improvements to the Newcomen steam engine were fundamental to the changes brought by the Industrial Revolution in both his native Great Britain and the rest of the world.While working as an instrument maker at the...
steam engine within. The Ringvaart, the Cruquius Pump House, the dike itself, and various other components such as aqueducts, bridges and defense bunkers located south of the dike of the Stelling van Amsterdam
Stelling van Amsterdam
The UNESCO World Heritage Site known as the Defence Line of Amsterdam is a 135 km long ring of fortifications around Amsterdam, consisting of 42 forts located between 10 to 15 kilometers the centre, and lowlands that can easily be flooded in time of war...
(Defense line of Amsterdam) are considered a World Heritage site
World Heritage Site
A UNESCO World Heritage Site is a place that is listed by the UNESCO as of special cultural or physical significance...
. The main dike of the Stelling van Amsterdam runs diagonally across the Haarlemmermeer polder and crosses the Ringvaart twice. Fort Vijfhuizen
Fort Vijfhuizen
thumb|200px|right|View of the geniedijk, looking southwest from fort Vijfhuizen.thumb|200px|right|View of bunkers, representing fore position of fort Vijfhuizen....
located on the Ringvaart is used for art exhibitions.