  the zuiderzee works () are a manmade system of dams, land reclamation and water drainage works, the largest hydraulic engineering project undertaken by the netherlands during the twentieth century. the project involved the damming of the zuiderzee, a large, shallow inlet of the north sea, and the reclamation of land in the newly enclosed water using polders. its main purposes are to improve flood protection and create additional land for agriculture. together with the delta works in the south-west of the netherlands, the american society of civil engineers declared the works among the seven wonders of the modern world. ==background== the concept of making the zuiderzee docile originated in the seventeenth century, but the ambitious solutions suggested were impractical given the technology then available. right|thumb|150px|statue of cornelis lely on the afsluitdijk the second half of the nineteenth century saw the first feasible plans, with the primary objectives being protection from the open sea and creating new agricultural land. cornelis lely (after whom lelystad is named) was an ardent supporter, an engineer and later government minister, whose 1891 plan formed the basis for what were to become the zuiderzee works. it consisted of a large dam connecting the northern tip of north holland with the western coast of friesland and the creation of initially four polders in the northwest, the northeast, southeast (later split in two), and southwest of what would be renamed the ijsselmeer (ijssel-lake), with two major lanes of water spared for shipping and drainage. the initial body of water affected by the project was . opposition came from fishermen along the zuiderzee who would lose their livelihood, and from others in coastal areas along the more northerly wadden sea who feared higher water levels as a result of the closure, and others who doubted whether it was financially practical. however, when lely became minister of transport and public works in 1913, the government started working on official plans to enclose the zuiderzee. on january 13 and 14, 1916 the dikes at several places along the zuiderzee broke under the stress of a winter storm, and the land behind them flooded, as had often happened in previous centuries. this flooding provided the decisive impetus to implement the existing plans to tame the zuiderzee. due to the flooding and a continuously threatening food shortage during world war i, support for the project grew. [[image:afsluitdijk 01.jpg|right|thumb|300px|construction of th
Causeways_in_Europe Dams_completed_in_1924 Dams_in_the_Netherlands Dikes_in_the_Netherlands Flood_control_in_the_Netherlands Historic_Civil_Engineering_Landmarks History_of_the_Netherlands Polders Science_and_technology_in_the_Netherlands Zuiderzee_Works