Monuments of Climate Change
Born on the North Sea coast, daughter of a ship’s mechanic and living in a house that is part of a dike, it is no wonder De Jong’s current ‘project in progress’ again deals with water.
A large part of The Netherlands lies below sea level and this country has withstood an endless succession of storm floods. Again and again climate change, subsidence and/or a rising sea level have made it necessary to recalibrate, adjust and renew the existing defences against the water. Currently the landscape is again being altered, so that we can continue to be able to keep our heads above water in the future.
In her project ‘Monuments of Climate Change’ she shows those landscapes and locations with different kind of defences where, for centuries, man has tried either to embrace the water as a friend or to fight it as an enemy. Without these interventions, we build our life with water – our (cultural) past and our future – on marshy ground indeed.
Oterdum Sea Dike
When this dike was raised to Delta height, the little church at Oterdum was demolished. The cemetery around the church also disappeared, but the gravestones were put ‘back’ about 3 metres higher in the sea dike.
Frisian Dobbe
The so-called 'dobbes' have been erected outside the sea dikes in the summer polders as well as in the re-created salt marsh landscape. In summer these hills can be used as refuges and water holes for cattle.
Schokland Lighthouse
Remains of the marine beacon on the formerly lost island Schokland (UNESCO Worls Heritage site), which became part of the North East Polder in 1942.
Sophiapolder
Freshwater tidal nature created in this former polder to give the River Noord more space at high tide. It must also compensate for the natural area lost elsewhere to the Betuwelijn (railway line).
Regelwerk
Part of the ‘green river’; at high tide it regulates the volume of water flowing down the Rhine, in order to protect the millions of people living in the Dutch Delta.
Jantjesplaat
In the context of the project ‘Room for the River’, this former agriculture area has been depoldered into an extensive wetland. The earth that was removed during this process has been used for summer dykes and mounds to build on in the Noordwaard.
Osier Dams Holwerd
The osier dams are no longer used for land reclamation but still maintained to prevent marshes from disappearing. In their turn the marshes protect man from the sea.
Schelphoek
After the flood disaster of 1953, Phoenix caissons, previously used for landing operations in WW2, were found to be still available and usable to close enormous gaps in various dykes in Zeeland.
Hondsbossche en Pettemer Seawall
By creating new land and a total new coastline the former Seawall is reinforced to protect the Dutch against the rising sea-level.
Waterloopbos Marknesse
Up until the 1990s, this woodland was the site of the research terrain of the Watercourse Laboratory, where waterworks in The Netherlands and other places in the world were built to scale and tested.
Sand Motor
Pilot project in the form of an enormous artificial sand flat, where the sand is spread by wind, waves and current to provide extra protection for the Dutch coast.
