492 



THE NEÏHEELANDS. 



constructed in 1819 between Amsterdam and the Helder, was looked upon at 

 the time as a remarkable achievement. But soon the merchants began to com- 

 plain about its great length (52 miles), its insufficient depth (18-5 feet), its 

 liability to become closed by ice, and its exposed position near Petten (Fig. 279), 

 where the ocean is perpetually threatening an irruption. It was resolved, there- 

 Fig. 280. — The Canal of the Y. 

 Scale 1 : 135,000. 



10 Miles. 



fore, to construct a new canal, the engineers naturally choosing the narrow neck 

 of land known as HoUand op zijn smaM. This canal of the Y, constructed 

 since 1858, has a length of 25,886 yards, and is 207 feet in width. Its depth, 

 as far as the great flood-gate at Ymuiden, is only 13 feet, but beyond it deepens 

 to 25 feet. The harbour at Ymuiden is formed by two piers, each 5,000 feet 

 in length, and covers an area of 297 acres. The entire work cost nearly 



Fij-. 281.— SECTioisf OF THE PiEU Head at Ymuiden. 



£4,000,000 sterling, a considerable portion of which, it is hoped, will be recovered 

 by the sale of land reclaimed on both sides of the canal. 



Rotterdam, threatened with being cut off from th'e sea altogether, in con- 

 sequence of the formation of bars and the silting up of its estuaries, contented 

 itself with a canal far less ambitious in design than that of the Y. It was con- 



