Maeslantkering

The Europoortkering or barrier of the Europoort is a program of engineering works in addition to the Delta Plan, designed to protect the maritime access routes from the port of Rotterdam and thus, the entire South Holland against storms and tides.The original Delta Plan provided no closure of the Western Scheldt and of the Nieuwe Waterweg to allow access to the ports of Antwerp and Rotterdam. But regarding the Nieuwe Waterweg and the Hartelkanaal it appeared in the mid-1980s that the levees were not high enough to ensure optimum protection of the territories densely populated South Holland. A heightening of all dikes would be too expensive. An alternative was found. In 1987 the final decision was taken, the Nieuwe Waterweg will be protected by dikes up to the location of a storm surge barrier, the Maeslantkering at Hook of Holland, and the Hartelkanaal will be protected up to another storm surge barrier, the Hartelkering. Between those two barriers, the raising of all dikes will be required. The whole work was finally completed in 1997. The Delta Plan itself protects the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, so mainly Zeeland, while the Europoortkering protects South Holland and not the Europoort which is situated before those protections.

Europoort (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈøːroːpoːrt], English: Eurogate, also "Europort") is an area of the Port of Rotterdam and the adjoining industrial area in the Netherlands. Being situated at Southside of the mouth of the rivers Rhine and Meuse with the hinterland consisting of the Netherlands, Germany, Belgium and partly France, Europoort is one of the world's busiest ports and considered a major entry to Europe. The port handled 12 million containers in 2015.The Europoort area is very heavily industrialised with petrochemical refineries and storage tanks, bulk iron ore and coal handling as well as container and new motor vehicle terminals. Europoort is situated on the South bank of the Nieuwe Waterweg, same as the Maasvlakte area. On the Northern bank of the Nieuwe Waterweg one could find Hook of Holland (in Dutch: Hoek van Holland).

The Nieuwe Waterweg ("New Waterway") is a ship canal in the Netherlands from het Scheur (a branch of the Rhine-Meuse-Scheldt delta) west of the town of Maassluis to the North Sea at Hook of Holland: the Maasmond, where the Nieuwe Waterweg connects to the Maasgeul. It is the artificial mouth of the river Rhine. The Nieuwe Waterweg, which opened in 1872 and has a length of approximately 20.5 kilometres (12.7 mi), was constructed to keep the city and port of Rotterdam accessible to seafaring vessels as the natural Meuse-Rhine branches silted up. The Waterway is a busy shipping route since it is the primary access to one of the busiest ports in the world, the Port of Rotterdam. At the entrance to the sea, a flood protection system called Maeslantkering has been installed (completed in 1997). There are no bridges or tunnels across the Nieuwe Waterweg.

Rozenburg is an island in the western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland. Rozenburg Island was formed centuries ago from several sand bars in the Meuse estuary. In 1568, construction started on the first set of dikes and in 1586 the land known as Roosenburgh was leased to Dirk Ariensz. Bisdommer and Son, the first permanent inhabitant of Rozenburg. In 1950, the stretch of the Nieuwe Maas river south of Rozenburg (also locally called Brielse Maas) was dammed off at both ends of Rozenburg Island, thereby forming Brielse Meer and connecting it to Voorne-Putten Island. Beginning in the same period, most of the island was given over to industrial enterprise, part of the Port of Rotterdam (Botlek and Europoort). When these sea ports were being planned in the 1950s, the councils of Rotterdam and Rozenburg made the arrangement that Rotterdam would lead the development of the ports and industry, while Rozenburg would look after the housing of the expected population increase. The village of Blankenburg on the island had to be completely removed to make way for new canals and industry. The new housing developments were concentrated around the old village centre of Rozenburg on the Scheur branch. In a short period its population rose from 3,500 to over 14,000.

Heenweg is a town in the Dutch province of South Holland. It is a part of the municipality of Westland, and lies about 7 km northwest of Maassluis. In 2001, the town of Heenweg had 601 inhabitants. The built-up area of the town was 0.076 km², and contained 228 residences. The statistical area "Heenweg", which also can include the peripheral parts of the village, as well as the surrounding countryside, has a population of around 690.

Stenen Baak is a now-deactivated lighthouse northeast of Oostvoorne, near to the town of Brielle, in the Dutch province of South Holland. In several nautical sources of the 19th Century it is also referred to as Stone Beacon or Stone Baak. It protected the entrance to the Brielle harbour, a safe haven protecting ships from the tides and waters of the North Sea. The harbour is formed by the island of Voorne-Putten and the Brielse Meer and the rivers Oude Maas, Spui and Haringvliet. Brielle received city rights in 1306, developed the harbour during this time up until the fiefdom was added to Holland in 1371. The lighthouse itself was added in 1650. A fixed light during its time of operation, the lighthouse was visible in good weather up to a distance of four miles. It was deactivated in 1850.

Hoek van Holland Haven (Hook of Holland Harbour) is a metro station on Line B of the Rotterdam Metro, in Hook of Holland (Hoek van Holland), Rotterdam, South Holland. Trains connect with the Stena Line Dutchflyer boat service to Harwich International in England. Until 1 April 2017, it was a railway station served by Nederlandse Spoorwegen. On 30 September 2019, it reopened as the western terminus of RET Metro Line B. Work is underway to extend the line further west to a new Hoek van Holland Strand station and to relocate the platforms to the northwest of their current location along the historical building, so that they are on the new section of the line.

Hook of Holland (Dutch: Hoek van Holland, pronounced [ˈɦuk fɑn ˈɦɔlɑnt] (listen)) is a town in the southwestern corner of Holland, hence the name; hoek means "corner" and was the word in use before the word kaap – "cape", from Portuguese cabo – became Dutch. The English translation using Hook is a false cognate of the Dutch Hoek, but has become commonplace (in official government records in English, the name tends not to get translated and Hoek van Holland is used). It is located at the mouth of the New Waterway shipping canal into the North Sea. The town is administered by the municipality of Rotterdam as a district of that city. Its district covers an area of 16.7 km2, of which 13.92 km2 is land. On 1 January 1999 it had an estimated population of 9,400. Towns near "the Hook" (Dutch: "de Hoek") include Monster, 's-Gravenzande, Naaldwijk and Delft to the northeast, and Maassluis to the southeast. On the other side of the river is the Europort and the Maasvlakte. The wide sandy beach, one section of which is designated for use by naturists, runs for approximately 18 kilometres to Scheveningen and for most of this distance is backed by extensive sand dunes through which there are foot and cycle paths. On the north side of the New Waterway, to the west of the town, is a pier, part of which is accessible to pedestrians and cyclists. The Berghaven is a small harbour on the New Waterway where the Rotterdam and Europort pilots are based. This small harbour is only for the use of the pilot service, government vessels and the Hook of Holland lifeboat.

's-Gravenzande is a town in the province of South Holland, in the Netherlands. It is a part of the municipality of Westland, and lies about 12 kilometres (7.5 mi) southwest of The Hague. Until 2004 it was a separate municipality and covered an area of 20.77 km2 (of which 3.38 km2 water). The town of 's-Gravenzande had 15,241 inhabitants in 2011. The built-up area of the town was 2.7 km2, and contained 5,879 residences. The statistical area "'s-Gravenzande", which also can include the peripheral parts of the village, as well as the surrounding countryside, has a population of around 119,750. As of 1 January 2009, 's-Gravenzande is the largest town in Westland with 19.428 inhabitants.The former municipality of 's-Gravenzande also included the township of Heenweg.

Hoek van Holland Strand metro station is a metro station in Hook of Holland (Hoek van Holland), Netherlands. It consists of two tracks with side platforms, and was the terminus of the Schiedam–Hoek van Holland railway to Rotterdam when it opened on 1 June 1893. Its name is derived from the nearby North Sea beach, strand being Dutch for “beach”. The Nederlandse Spoorwegen stopped operating the line, including Hoek van Holland Strand railway station, on 1 April 2017, and the line was transferred to the Rotterdam Metro. After reconstruction of the rail infrastructure and the facilities, the opening of the replacement metro line B station is expected in 2022, at which time it will become the new western terminus of the line. Metro line B service opened as far as the preceding station, Hoek van Holland Haven metro station, on 30 September 2019. The new station will be much closer to the beach, so further west, than the original station.

Hoek van Holland Strand station was the terminus of the Hoekse Lijn until 1 April 2017. This railway station in Hoek van Holland was opened on 1 June 1893 . It was approximately 700 meters further west than Hoek van Holland Haven station, with limited trains running to the station outside the summer months. Due to the construction of the Maasvlakte in 1971, the coastline came to lie further out to sea than when the station was opened, so that afterwards the station was no longer close to the beach, but more than a kilometre (about a 15-minute walk) away.

Kruiningergors is a town in the Dutch province of South Holland. It is a part of the municipality of Voorne aan Zee, and lies about 9 km west of Maassluis. The statistical area "Kruiningergors", which also can include the surrounding countryside, has a population of around 160.