In recent years, a 5.7 kilometre stretch of the Lekdijk has been improved. In honour of the official opening, Delta Programme Commissioner Wim Kuijken unveiled a statue near Het Rode Licht along the Lekdijk in Ammerstol, together with district water board chair Hans Oosters, Mayor Tjerk Bruinsma of Krimpenerwaard, and Jan Hendrik Dronkers, Director-General of Rijkswaterstaat. Het Rode Licht is the location where the dyke improvement was launched in 2011.
Meeting with residents
At 101 Lekdijk in Ammerstol, the Delta Programme Commissioner subsequently met with residents who have been living “among work in progress” for nearly five years, on account of the dyke improvement. Delta Programme Commissioner Wim Kuijken: ‘The collaboration between the District Water Control Board and the residents along the Lekdijk is a fine example to the rest of the country. I am very grateful to the residents for their cooperation and their flexibility. Having such major work carried out right in front of your house, for five long years, is quite something. But wonderful and robust results are only achieved if you join forces – the District Water Control Board, the contractors and the residents. And that is what this dyke improvement goes to show.’
The Delta Programme in the Netherlands comprises, among other measures, the improvement of a large number of so-called primary water defences. These dykes need to protect the areas behind them against flooding from the rivers. The Lekdijk between Bergambacht and Schoonhoven failed to meet the height and stability standards in 1999. In 2001, the preparations for a comprehensive dyke improvement commenced. The dyke now meets the statutory safety standards again; it is sufficiently high and strong to withstand extremely high water levels.