How the Dutch Realized this Insane Megaproject

The North Sea Flood in 1953 was the worst environmental disaster in The Netherlands in the 20th century, but it had an unexpected side effect. This event led to an unprecedented rate of development in the region which positively benefitted the region, and led to one of the modern wonders of the world: the Delta Works.

FULL TRANSCRIPT + SOURCES:

MAIN SOURCES:
Watersnoodramp 1953 (KNMI):

Lijst van publicaties door Deltacommissie (Kennisbank Waterbouw):

De Aanleg van de Deltawerken (Geschiedenis van Zuid Holland):

#DeltaWorks #Flood

[HindsightYT]

I'm getting a lot of pushback in the comments about something I said at 4:30 about "aging white man", so let me explain.

I found this picture while writing the script and found it interesting that all men were of the same demographic. This is something that would be criticized in our day and age, and it shows how our culture of management has changed. One of the reasons why I find history videos interesting is because it shows how the world changes. When I saw this picture, I observed that the demographic composition would likely be very different these days. I tried to whimsically include this observation in the story, for the mere purpose of entertainment.

Now, I probably shouldn't have said it. I now understand that many people interpret the comment as critique, which in hindsight I can totally understand. I'm personally not that invested in the conversation about inclusivity and diversity, and that's probably why I failed to foresee that people would perceive it in that context. The discussion is not relevant to the story, and the many negative comments are proof that it didn't come across as intended.

I hope you can still enjoy the video :)

[markthompson]

I'm American but I spent time as an exchange student in the Netherlands in 1987, and I have nothing but the utmost respect for the Dutch and their engineering expertise.

[fronskedeboer]

What's even more funny, the annually headwind cycling championship this year was cancelled, because of the wind.

[jdj]

The past couple of weeks, the systems got tested quite strongly. Because of the high water levels in the Rhine from Germany and Switzerland, it was good to see all the systems still working to keep us safe.

[dennisklomp]

Great video.

As an engineer, Johan van Veen is one of my heroes. He followed the facts and was not scared to confront leaders with the truth.

He worked for a government agency and was required to stay neutral towards the public. Therefore he wrote scathing articles about the state of the dikes from his pseudonym "dr Cassandra". He warned as early as 1937 for the state of the dikes, a full 16 years before the flood happened.

Cassandra comes from greek mythology. She received the blessing to know the future, alongside the curse that no one would believe her.

A brilliant pseudonym for a brilliant man.

[beafitze]

This is an absolutely fascinating video, thank you for keeping me glued to my screen for the entire duration! My mother was Dutch and I still have family there, so I started watching partly due to that, but I kept watching because what the Dutch achieved here is truly incredible. Your video should be required watching in schools (maybe it is!) 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼

[shootingsportstransparency]

Sixty+ years ago, as a small child, I visited the construction of the Dutch Delta Works with my parents. Now I live seven meters below sea level and feel absolutely safe

[henkmeerhof]

The delta works are a sound part of my personal history. I was born 1.3 m below sea level to begin with, just north of the nieuwe waterweg. My dad had a specialized welding firm and a diversity of connections to people working at universities and entrepreneurs. So for years his office showed those pylons of the Oosterschelde barrier and he finished working on the Maeslant Barrier just before retiring.

[diannegooding]

The peoples of the Netherlands have achieved miracles in land reclamation and water containment! The committee that was formed to plan the major project were incredible. They were old enough to have the required experience, knowledge, expertise and academic qualifications, to take major decisions!

[Sjnuffelke]

You missed out on the best part, the plaque at the monument of the Oosterscheldekering with the text:
"Hier gaan over het tij, de maan, de wind en wij"

Difficult to translate but saw a nice one:
"The masters of the tides are three: the moon, the winds and we"

[mikedavies]

I knew about the Delta Works before, but this production was very interesting and informative. Well done!

[robertvermaat]

Johan van Veen should receive more recognition. He was aware of the problems decades in advance, but his warnings were ignored and even was told to shut up about it. In 1939 the realisation sank in that the dikes were too low, but then WWII caused years of delay. In 1946 the Stormvloedcommissie started the first works, but only in december 1952 were they asked to report about the whole of Zeeland and Holland. Johan van Veen of course had his studies ready and presented his findings on January 29, 1953. The storm hit 3 days later.

[jannetteberends]

Tom Scott made a video about the Waterloopbos. A scale model to study the behaviour of water and water barriers.

[sirBrouwer]

Last week and also this week the delta system it self got tested do to hight water both from the sea side but now also from the river side.
For most the works are doing what they have to. Some minor flooding has happend (so we will improve some more) but overall the Delta works are doing really well.
So well that I don't even think about it. I trust it completely.

[ricopo]

Fascinating, gave new insight to me as the flooding that took place during WW1 is what forced my grandfather to immigrate to the USA.

[GoldenRuben]

This a great video! Thank you!

Greetings from the netherlands!

[thomastoadie]

Fun fact: the Biesbosch (a nature area) was created during a 15th century flood called the Saint Elisabeth flood. It destroyed the polders farmland and was never reclaimed.

[yaiburanakul]

Thank you for making this short documentary about this impressive engineering project.

[fredherfst]

Enjoyed that. Thanks. I particularly appreciated learning about the many subprojects involved in the Delta Works and the overviews. 🇱🇺🇨🇦

[Corethegamer]

My great grandmother actually experienced this as she lived in Zeeland close to one of the main canals to the sea, having heard her talk about what she could remember as she was only 9~10 at the time was just amazing