The daytime parking is an island within the delta. It’s hard to be clear exactly what this is the delta of as there are so many rivers and tributaries.
The point is that this lets us explore up close the work that the Netherlands started in 1954 after the huge North Sea floods of 1953. The Netherlands were devastated as they are generally so low lying (20% lower than sea level and 50% less than a meter above sea level).
Huge earthworks, dams, dikes, sluices, locks and surge barriers and other engineering marvels form the Delta Project/Delta Works which were not completed until 1997. These protect the whole country from the worst that the North sea can serve up.
Compare and contrast with the UK, where the ravages of the North Sea are all too easy to see. The Netherlands is a testament to epic engineering projects and proof that a government can get its act together when it needs to!
There is a theme park and visitor centre (Deltapark) on the island but instead we walk along the huge earthworks and examine the storm surge barriers and the windfarm. One thing we are struck by is how quiet the wind turbines are. There is certainly some blade noise but it’s only downwind of the turbine and is almost zero about 150 Meters away. The wind noise is much louder than any noise from the turbines!
The cost to park of 7.5€ is a sting, but it was our mistake – we parked in the theme park carpark rather than free parking on the other side of the motorway. Cheese and Biscuits in the van, and then we continue along the coast to Burge Haamstede.
