Korenbrug Lock
Lingewacht
The house on the corner of Vijfde Uitgang and Blauwe Torenstraat still has sections dating back to the early 17th century. It was a warehouse belonging to the Water Board. However, in 1704 it was put to military use as a guardhouse and storehouse. Since then, it has been known as ‘ de Lingewacht ’. From 1830 onwards, it was also used as a laboratory for ‘ernstvuurwerken’ (ammunition manufacturing). The building remained in military use until 1967. Although it is now a listed building, the building was later fitted with many modern windows and a modern layer of plaster.
Waaiersluis
The Korenbrug Lock is a fan lock, an invention attributed to the renowned hydraulic engineer Jan Blanken. A fan lock can be opened or closed against high water, or against the current, and was therefore used in the construction of the New Dutch Water Line from 1815 onwards. For when one wishes to flood the land, one must always open the locks against the rising water.
For the sake of simplicity, the image above shows a single lock gate. Through sluice channels (1 and 3), fitted with gates (2), the water pressure from the high-water side can be directed against the larger sluice gate (5). This then automatically pushes the smaller gate (6) into the waterway. It also works the other way round by draining the ‘chamber’ (4) towards the low-water side.
The first flood defence was built at the Korenbrug in 1793, consisting of a bridge over masonry columns with five openings, which could be closed off with floodgates. This was the first flood defence in the Lingehaven, which is why the lock is also known as the ‘First Flood Defence’. In 1809, this was converted into a floodgate. In 1824, the lock was converted into the current fan lock. A fan lock was useful here because the water levels of the Merwede or the Linge could be high.
New Dutch Waterline
The lock’s military function is on the other side, where you can see slots for sluice gates. By inserting sluice gates into these slots, it was possible to control the water level in the River Linge. The Linge was ‘raised’ via the inundation canal near Tiel (see photo above), causing the floodplains to flood and the water to rise high against the dykes on both sides. The section of the Linge between the locks at Asperen and Gorinchem served as a water reserve to maintain the water level for the inundation of the New Dutch Water Line.
