i877-i 
The Port of Ymuiden. 
4 1 
III. THE PORT OF YMUIDEN. 
By F. C. Danvers, Assoc. Inst. C.E. 
EW people will recognise in the above name the great 
^ and important engineering work which has, since 
1865, been under construction in Holland, and which 
has been more familiarly known as the “ Amsterdam ” or 
“ North Sea Canal.” Since the construction of the Suez 
Canal no hydraulic work of greater, or even equal, im- 
portance has been undertaken, and its successful completion 
reflects no little credit upon Sir John Hawkshaw and the 
able engineers who have been associated with him in the 
undertaking. A brief retrospect will show the necessity 
that existed for this work. 
In the sixteenth century Amsterdam stood first of all the 
commercial cities of Europe. Its prosperity, however, gra- 
dually began to decline, partly from the rise of other ports, 
but principally from the difficulties of navigation caused by 
the silting up of the Zuyder Zee, and above all by the 
formation of the Pampas Bar. Large vessels could, in con- 
sequence, no longer get up to Amsterdam with their cargoes, 
but were obliged to discharge outside the bar, when they 
were floated over it by means of “ camels,” which, when 
the water was pumped out of them, raised the vessel with 
them. The trade of Amsterdam was fast being diverted to 
Rotterdam, but in 1819 steps were taken to avoid the diffi- 
culties of the Zuyder Zee by the construction of the North 
Holland Canal, which extends from Buiksluyt, opposite 
Amsterdam, to the Helder, a distance of 51 miles ; and this 
canal has since been extensively used by vessels of large 
burden seeking the North Sea. It is, however, difficult of 
passage in winter, and consequently it was at length deter- 
mined to connect Amsterdam with the North Sea direct by 
means of a canal passing through the Wijker-meer and the 
Ij, by the shortest possible route, by the adoption of which 
the distance to the sea is shortened by no less than 
36 miles. 
This work was commenced in March, 1865. It consists 
of two parts, viz., a harbour in the North Sea, at the mouth 
of the canal, and the canal itself. 
The harbour was designed by Sir John Hawkshaw. It 
consists of two piers stretching out into the sea to the depth 
of about 26 feet below the level of low water. These piers at 
their junction with the land, at the foot of the downs on the 
