5.4 Estuaries in the Southern North Sea Region
93
Fig. 5.21 Map of land reclamation works at the Schelde estuary. Most of reclamation was done in
the seventeenth century. Also after that period reclamation work was executed due to flooding by
severe storm surges. Land reclamation work in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries was due to the
strategy of going forward and the flood event in 1953. Source: Vroon et al. (1997)
Trade and transport were not the only human activities in estuaries. In Fig. 5.21
land reclamation activities are illustrated. In the Middle Ages land could be reclaimed
if and only if the elevation of the area was higher than the mean high water level. As
has been shown in Sect. 5.3 by the installation of wind mills and pumping stations lowlying land could be drained under highest efforts. The reclamation of (river) marsh land
narrowed the expansion of the water and, thus, reduced the tidally influenced marsh
and shallow water areas. The same development can be observed at the Schelde where
many storm surges destroyed the small islands and plates in the Middle Ages. Today,
the Wester Schelde is an open estuary due to the necessary access to the harbor of
Antwerp.
Figure 5.22 illustrates the changes of the cross section of the estuaries from the
Middle Ages until today. The wide flood plain has been narrowed by land reclamation
and drainage. Dikes protect people and low-lying land against high water levels. The adjacent marshes are intensively used by agriculture or housing and infrastructure for ports.
Increasing ship sizes call for deeper fairways.
93
Fig. 5.21 Map of land reclamation works at the Schelde estuary. Most of reclamation was done in
the seventeenth century. Also after that period reclamation work was executed due to flooding by
severe storm surges. Land reclamation work in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries was due to the
strategy of going forward and the flood event in 1953. Source: Vroon et al. (1997)
Trade and transport were not the only human activities in estuaries. In Fig. 5.21
land reclamation activities are illustrated. In the Middle Ages land could be reclaimed
if and only if the elevation of the area was higher than the mean high water level. As
has been shown in Sect. 5.3 by the installation of wind mills and pumping stations lowlying land could be drained under highest efforts. The reclamation of (river) marsh land
narrowed the expansion of the water and, thus, reduced the tidally influenced marsh
and shallow water areas. The same development can be observed at the Schelde where
many storm surges destroyed the small islands and plates in the Middle Ages. Today,
the Wester Schelde is an open estuary due to the necessary access to the harbor of
Antwerp.
Figure 5.22 illustrates the changes of the cross section of the estuaries from the
Middle Ages until today. The wide flood plain has been narrowed by land reclamation
and drainage. Dikes protect people and low-lying land against high water levels. The adjacent marshes are intensively used by agriculture or housing and infrastructure for ports.
Increasing ship sizes call for deeper fairways.