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got focus but it was yet too early for consistent scientific theories. Water mills with
great capacity took care of drying large lakes.
In the Dutch golden age (17th century) the VOC
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-ships brought besides spices,
porcelain, silk and exotic wares also a sub-tropical wood-worm, unknown before in
the area, that ravaged the wooden water-defence structures (Fig 1.8) within a few
years. As a consequence, avoiding the use of local wood, dike design changed
drastically into sloping embankments with solid surface protection. Dike builders
flattened slopes and applied rigid revetments (twined brushwood blankets with
stones). Calamities promoted the insight in redistributions of river courses (1744
dikes collapsed and the river Merwede inundated vast areas), but it was yet also too
early for a really holistic approach.
Figure 1.8 Old river dike structure (Ruysdael's painting: Wijk bij Duurstede ~ 1645)
In 1648, the town hall of Amsterdam - since 1808 the royal palace - is
constructed on 13,659 wooden piles, passing through the soft Holocene top layer
into a stiff sand deposit. It was a symbol of the power and status of Amsterdam at
the climax of its Golden Century (Fig 1.9). This monumental building stands firm
still today thanks to a solid foundation, long wooden piles driven by the modern
equipment of that time under the groundwater table into the stable deep sand layer.
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VOC: Dutch East India Company established in 1602.
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