The New York herald., 1920-01-25
DUTCH TO RECLAIM
THE ZUYDER ZEE.
Work on Si25, 900, 600 Engin-
eering Project Will Start
This Year.
MEANS LAND FOR 100000
/ Dixie Thirty Miles Long Part of Plan
to Add New Province to
Holland.
MEANS LAND FOR 100000

HAGUE January s (by Aaaociated
Press). Work is to begin this year on the
reciaiming of the Zuyder Zee, one of the
worlds greatest engineering projects. by
wa..c,. = is proposed to restore to Holland
within thirty-five years what was once
hers but was taken away ny the storms OF
many centuries.
When the work is finished. not molly the
original land will be restored but many
thousands OF acres which always have
been beneath the sea will be ready for
cultivation
According to pre-war estimates the en-
tire work of reclaiming the Zuyder Zee
would have cost approximately SIS, 800, ,oOo,
but, with the Increased cost of labor and
materials in the last six years. it is be-
lieved the cost will be well in excess or
s125 900 900. The work will be done and
paid for by the State, through special
loans, and the State, through rental of the
land reclaimed, expects the scheme TO
pay for itself within few years and there
after yield handsome revenue.
wnI support 100000 persons.
The total amount of land to be re-
claimed will be S27 square miles, which
will constitute a twelfth province of Hol-
land, capable OF supporting population OF
200 900, and wherein several cities of an
cient trading fame are expected to be
rstored to commercial importance. The
engineering work is now well under way.
Centuries ago, at the beginning of the
~sctsa xuIxa bod \, IN
settlements in Holland. much of the space
now occupied by the zuyder Zee was land
and the south part OF the present sea
was 4 lake called Flevo. Northwest
tempests swept the North Sea, washing
away the tract Of dry land between the
sea and the lake. One large, shallow body
of water-the zuyder Zee-was formed.
The towns situated on its banks throve
as the merchantmen came into their
ports. But as ships became larger and
Of deeper draught, traffic was diverted to
deeper seas, leaving the once famous
towns on the Zuyder's shores mere fish
ing villages, which they are now, while
An1sterdam's commerce came to her
through a canal leading direct to the
North Sea.
To Build Dixie Thirty Miles Long.
DR.. A. A. Beeknan. of The Hague, who
has devoted nearly all his life to the ideal
OF reclaiming the Zuyder Zee, explained
the plans TO the Associated Press cor
respondent. He is now a member of the
State Council which will carry out the
work.
THE first thing to do" said Dr. Beck
man, lis to construct a gigantic dixie TO
keep out the North Sea. This will be
thirty miles long. stretching from Vie
ringen to the Frisian coast, where the
water ranges in depth from thirty-three
to eleven feet IL will be everywhere six
TEEN to seventeen feet above the sea
level. There will be a. double track rail-
way on top of the dixie. Its construction
will take nine years and its cost, by pre-
war estimates, will be more than
so1,O0o000.
The total surface TO be reclaimed is
sN square miles. There will remain a
lake of 600 square miles, which will act as
a reservoir during the periods when, ow-
ing to northwestern storms. the waters
OF the River Yssel and of the canals can
not be emptied into the North Sea. The
water of the lake will be let out into the
North Sea through five great Slulces at
the Wieringen end of the dixie.
Most of the land to be reclaimed now
lies thirteen feet beneath the sea level.
Part of it is expected to be dry within
fourteen years, as pumping out will begin
as soon as the dixie is completed. The
last of the land is expected to be dry
within fifty-five years.