Nieuwerkerk aan den IJssel
Lowest point of the Netherlands

Monument at the lowest point of the Netherlands
6,76 meter under NAP

 The lowest point in the Netherlands is located in Nieuwerkerk aan den IJssel. It is the result of the reclamation of the Zuidplaspolder in 1841. The Zuidplas used to be a lake situated to the west of Gouda, and extending from Waddinxveen in the north to Nieuwerkerk aan den IJssel in the south. The lake itself had come into being as a result of many centuries of peat dredging. The peat was dried for use as fuel. At that time the bottom of the lake was 5,9 metres / 19.36 feet below the mean sea level of the North Sea. Over the years the surface level of the Zuidplaspolder has sunk due to settlement.

In September 1986 a survey was carried out by the Land Surveying Authority of the Public Works and Water Management Department to determine the location and height of the lowest point in Holland. The location was found to be in latitude 51º 59' 13" north and longitude 4º 38' 9" east, and the height 6,74 metres / 22.11 feet below Normal Amsterdam Level (Normaal Amsterdam Peil - NAP) which corresponds almost exactly with the mean sea level of the North Sea. In December 2004 this was corrected to 6,76 metres / 22.18 feet.

On the photo on the left the red line around the top indicates the N.A.P. (sea level).

Click here for more photos

Cross section of the Netherlands

Click to enlarge

On the left you can see a ship on the North Sea. Then we have the dunes. In the middle is the city of Zoetermeer. Then we get to the windmills at Rottemeren. The illustration of the town with a church, that is Nieuwerkerk aan den IJssel. Next to it on the right is the Hollandsche IJssel (river), a branch of the Rhine river. The photo on the left is of the beach at Scheveningen at The Hague. The photo on the right is of the beautiful area around Nieuwerkerk aan den IJssel where the lowest point is.

 

Cross section of Nieuwerkerk aan den IJssel

Click to enlarge

On the left is the channel called the Ringvaart (ring canal). Then there is the industrial terrain the Hooge Veenen. Then there is the A20 highway between Gouda and Rotterdam. Then the road named Europalaan. The house represent the suburb Zuidplas, where I live. Then we get the railroad, which I got a good view of. Then we have the Ringvaart again and finally the Hollandsche IJssel with the ship passing by. On the right is a photo of the water carrier / aqueduct which is part of the Ringvaart. At this point it crosses OVER the road beneath.

 

Click here to see where I live.

For some more information see Institute for Water Education
Go to My Home Page

Hosted by www.Geocities.ws

1