Civil Engineering Reference
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provided a better protection against floods. Initially the damming of the
Westerschelde was also considered, but after the Belgians had exerted pres-
sure, the idea soon disappeared. Although the Delta Plan was particularly
designed to protect the south-western Netherlands from the sea, it also
gave the Zeelanders a great opportunity to improve the accessibility of
Zeeland by constructing through-roads on top of the new crossings between
the islands. Where crossings were missing in the Delta Plan, the Province of
Zeeland tried their best to construct them themselves and to finance them
by means of charging tolls, as happened with the Zeeland Bridge across the
Oosterschelde. However, the bridging of the Westerschelde was extremely
expensive. In this the government, who provided an annual contribution for
the operations of the ferries, was needed as financier. Intensive lobbying
was started to convince the government that the construction of a perman-
ent river crossing was of national importance. At that time, the successive
Ministers of Transport, Public Works and Water Management did not con-
sider a permanent river crossing expedient; on the one hand because of the
high costs and on the other hand, because there was still no clarity about
the traffic development as a result of the Delta Plan.
Area with potential
In 1963 however, with a study on the basis of traffic prognoses, it was
proven that a permanent crossing was cost-effective; it would provide the
central economical development axis from north to south. The Randstad,
western Belgium and the north-west of France would be linked by it. In
response to the study, the Minister of Transport, Public Works and Water
Management extended his co-operation in the undertaking of a study into
the best route. This provided six routes for a bridge connection and four for
a bridge/tunnel connection. The routes at the Belgian border were soon
rejected due to their unfavourable positioning. The remaining routes were
concentrated on:
- a location lying to the east near Kruiningen. If this route was selected, the
ferry connection Vlissingen-Breskens could not be discontinued;
- a central route near Terneuzen in which only a cycle/pedestrian ferry
would be needed in Vlissingen.
Europoort
Rotterdam
The Hague
Rotterdam
Zeeland Bridge
Rotterdam
Fig. 2.2
Different routes were
presented
Veersegat Dam
N
Middelburg
Goes
Bergen op Zoom
Vlissingen
Kruiningen
Ferry
Ferry
Borsele
Westerschelde
Breskens
Perkpolder
Oostburg
Terneuzen
Hulst
Axel
Belgium
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