How the Dutch Realized this Insane Megaproject

[@HindsightYT]

I'm getting a lot of pushback in the comments about something I said at 4:30 about "aging white man", so let me explain. I found this picture while writing the script and found it interesting that all men were of the same demographic. This is something that would be criticized in our day and age, and it shows how our culture of management has changed. One of the reasons why I find history videos interesting is because it shows how the world changes. When I saw this picture, I observed that the demographic composition would likely be very different these days. I tried to whimsically include this observation in the story, for the mere purpose of entertainment. Now, I probably shouldn't have said it. I now understand that many people interpret the comment as critique, which in hindsight I can totally understand. I'm personally not that invested in the conversation about inclusivity and diversity, and that's probably why I failed to foresee that people would perceive it in that context. The discussion is not relevant to the story, and the many negative comments are proof that it didn't come across as intended. I hope you can still enjoy the video :)

[@LeoFog487]

You're not "invested in the conversation about inclusivity and diversity"? So does that mean you're also disappointed that "the demographic composition would likely be very different these days"?

[@codeisawesome369]

Don't worry & don't back down. Good video!

[@ds5267]

Your apologia falls short. Apart from a very few people from the then or previously Dutch colonies, there was nothing other than white people in the Netherlands in 1953 and those few were from the Dutch East Indies or the Carribean. It has nothing to do with a "culture of management" because there was no other demographic on which to draw, so your response simply digs your hole that much deeper. Who else could have been involved? You demonstrated your lack of understanding of Dutch history in a way that was anything but whimsical and came across as snide, woke virtue-signaling of the sort that sprinkles left-leaning commentary on just about every topic these days, e.g. a tree fell down in the back garden so climate change because of the white patriarchy. It was assuredly not entertaining, just annoying. Whom did you think would be your audience? Further, this did not lend credibility to the rest of your video. One then wonders what else are you viewing through the narrative lens of currently fashionable identitarianism? How closely much we watch for extra-factual commentary in the rest of your presentation? In fairness, overall, you do capture the story of the flood in 1953, which I knew about from the first-hand witness of a good friend of mine whose village was inundated that year, which is why I watched your post. Leave the intersectional politics for some other video. Remember that as it takes a single match to light the fire that burns the house to the ground, so it takes only one such remark to cost you the confidence of your more discerning viewer. Having scolded you thusly, I really do wish you well and that your misstep will be a lesson that guides you in the future.

[@geoh7777]

As an aged white man, I can assure you that I "caught" that remark of yours, and it came across to me as you being, if not proud of them being aging white men, then at least taking note of that as being at a time when immigration had not occurred then as strongly as now. Don't let the DIE (discrimination, indoctrination and exclusion) people get to you.

[@diannegooding8733]

What are we becoming? It appears that some people do not get of bed in the morning until they have decided what they are going to be offended by! Stay in bed with the blinds and door shut, plus put cotton wool in each ear! Great video, very interesting especially how they achieved so much at that time. Marvellous engineers the Dutch!

[@markthompson180]

I'm American but I spent time as an exchange student in the Netherlands in 1987, and I have nothing but the utmost respect for the Dutch and their engineering expertise.

[@micheltibon6552]

Little known fun fact. 20% of the then budget for the Delta Works was a contribution of the Marschall Plan (500 million Dutch Guilders). The experience and knowledge the Dutch mastered and built on was paid forward to the United States when after Hurricane Katrina overran New Orleans' levees in 2005, Louisiana came calling on that Dutch expertise. The Louisiana state's flood and storm protection managers ogled the Maeslant barrier and closely studied the Netherlands' system of sea gates and levees, which the Dutch call dikes. Clearly an example of "You reap what you sow".

[@dylanhecker6686]

Should of stayed in the Netherlands. The US is collapsing.

[@fronskedeboer]

What's even more funny, the annually headwind cycling championship this year was cancelled, because of the wind.

[@Jari-95]

Tell me you're kidding please

[@luukmuller9646]

@@Jari-95no, the wind was actually too strong to compete safely. So the competition was cancelled

[@femkevanwageningen6068]

There is a pretty small window between anough wind for the competition and to much wind for safety

[@ILoveGayMenToMyCore]

Not funny, ironic.

[@BolleZijde]

@@Jari-95 It was replaced by a headwind peeing competition.

[@dennisklomp2361]

Great video. As an engineer, Johan van Veen is one of my heroes. He followed the facts and was not scared to confront leaders with the truth. He worked for a government agency and was required to stay neutral towards the public. Therefore he wrote scathing articles about the state of the dikes from his pseudonym "dr Cassandra". He warned as early as 1937 for the state of the dikes, a full 16 years before the flood happened. Cassandra comes from greek mythology. She received the blessing to know the future, alongside the curse that no one would believe her. A brilliant pseudonym for a brilliant man.

[@Sjnuffelke]

You missed out on the best part, the plaque at the monument of the Oosterscheldekering with the text: "Hier gaan over het tij, de maan, de wind en wij" Difficult to translate but saw a nice one: "The masters of the tides are three: the moon, the winds and we"

[@pietervanderzwaan4295]

well there is also the saying: god created the earth but the dutch created the Netherlands.

[@Harald-]

The masters of tides are thus: the moon, the wind, and us.

[@Harald-]

@@pietervanderzwaan4295 If you ain't Dutch, you ain"t much.

[@henkmeerhof8647]

The delta works are a sound part of my personal history. I was born 1.3 m below sea level to begin with, just north of the nieuwe waterweg. My dad had a specialized welding firm and a diversity of connections to people working at universities and entrepreneurs. So for years his office showed those pylons of the Oosterschelde barrier and he finished working on the Maeslant Barrier just before retiring.

[@ghostindamachine]

Glad you are now tall enough to be above NAP.

[@jdj8168]

The past couple of weeks, the systems got tested quite strongly. Because of the high water levels in the Rhine from Germany and Switzerland, it was good to see all the systems still working to keep us safe.

[@NLsandman]

Because we also learned it the hardway with our rivers. We give space to our rivers now but it wasn't always like that.

[@sonnylatchstring]

As far as I know, the Delta Works are for limiting the sea threat, not that of the rivers.

[@lukasrentz3238]

​@@sonnylatchstringAfter the severe River Floods in the 90s, the Netherlands also invested heavily into flood protectiin along the Rivers. Dykes, where uts inevitable and open space, where water can flood freely. Germany started to do that on a much smaller scale too, but its by far not enough. We still have a lot to do, and a lot to learn.

[@thefirstkingdogo1126]

That explanes why the river i go over every day was higher.

[@derianvandalsen]

OP also explained in quite some detail how the fresh water throughput was taken into consideration when designing the Delta works ​@@sonnylatchstring

[@diannegooding8733]

The peoples of the Netherlands have achieved miracles in land reclamation and water containment! The committee that was formed to plan the major project were incredible. They were old enough to have the required experience, knowledge, expertise and academic qualifications, to take major decisions!

[@randar1969]

And a nation with a trauma and money to support them with all they could spare.

[@shootingsportstransparency7461]

Sixty+ years ago, as a small child, I visited the construction of the Dutch Delta Works with my parents. Now I live seven meters below sea level and feel absolutely safe

[@joostprins3381]

Make that 6,76 meters and you live on some grass in the Zuidplaspolder.

[@shootingsportstransparency7461]

@@joostprins3381 Almost, but close to where a number of polders are lower than the officially specified point. This is because the polders were excavated for peat

[@joostprins3381]

@@shootingsportstransparency7461 indeed, and are still going down due to inklinking of the land used for farming. And that is used by tree huggers to say the level of the sea is rising so fast due to climate change, while it’s not the water rising (other than its doing for ages in a normal speed) but the land lowering.

[@dimrrider9133]

@@joostprins3381 you still believe in climatechange whahahah

[@marcobassini3576]

As an engineer I would not put my life for prolonged periods in the hands of a barrier (dam) and pumps in order to fight against gravity. You cannot defeat gravity, since no man made device has an uptime of 100% (as gravity has). When designing a plant I was taught to let natural forces (such as gravity) act in favor of safety, regardless of what happens to artificial devices. If you need high reliable cooling, you cannot use a pump to source water from a basin, you have to put water in a tank above the cooled reactor and let gravity do the job. If you do not want to be flooded, you have to be above the water level. Otherwise the doubt is not IF you will be flooded, but WHEN. Ancient human settlements (and the Roman roads!) were always built on top of hills, in modern times they started to build villages and roads in the valley close to the river. Inevitably when the river floods the new village goes underwater, the 2000 years old village has always stayed dry. With the global warming and the level of the sea inevitably rising, a lot of coastal flat lands will go underwater. No dam can prevent that. Nature will always prevail.

[@beafitze5909]

This is an absolutely fascinating video, thank you for keeping me glued to my screen for the entire duration! My mother was Dutch and I still have family there, so I started watching partly due to that, but I kept watching because what the Dutch achieved here is truly incredible. Your video should be required watching in schools (maybe it is!) 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼

[@robertvermaat2124]

Johan van Veen should receive more recognition. He was aware of the problems decades in advance, but his warnings were ignored and even was told to shut up about it. In 1939 the realisation sank in that the dikes were too low, but then WWII caused years of delay. In 1946 the Stormvloedcommissie started the first works, but only in december 1952 were they asked to report about the whole of Zeeland and Holland. Johan van Veen of course had his studies ready and presented his findings on January 29, 1953. The storm hit 3 days later.

[@thomastoadie9006]

Fun fact: the Biesbosch (a nature area) was created during a 15th century flood called the Saint Elisabeth flood. It destroyed the polders farmland and was never reclaimed.

[@sirBrouwer]

Last week and also this week the delta system it self got tested do to hight water both from the sea side but now also from the river side. For most the works are doing what they have to. Some minor flooding has happend (so we will improve some more) but overall the Delta works are doing really well. So well that I don't even think about it. I trust it completely.

[@Aan-rg3qi]

The fact that there were any problems with flooding from the rivers was due to mismanagement. Proven fact. Sad to know we have such incompetent people in charge.

[@mikedavies1540]

I knew about the Delta Works before, but this production was very interesting and informative. Well done!

[@md.harunorrashid2117]

Watching from Bangladesh

[@ZZZzzzap12]

I hope you will get some barriers too. I think you need some protection from the sea.

[@ricopo3522]

Fascinating, gave new insight to me as the flooding that took place during WW1 is what forced my grandfather to immigrate to the USA.

[@SpartanForces117]

Once more men bringing entire countries forward to the benefit of everyone, and we barely hear something about them or their achievements. Today it’s just taken for granted. Thank you for this amazing video!

[@sherri5559]

God bless all the men that came before and worked so hard for us!! Thank you and BRAVO!!!

[@jannetteberends8730]

Tom Scott made a video about the Waterloopbos. A scale model to study the behaviour of water and water barriers.

[@Corethegamer007]

My great grandmother actually experienced this as she lived in Zeeland close to one of the main canals to the sea, having heard her talk about what she could remember as she was only 9~10 at the time was just amazing

[@Haroekoe]

What a great video. The water fortress is called „Neeltje Jans". Every time I pass it, it gives me goosebumps. If you visit the Netherlands, you could visit the exhibition on the Delta works. There's a video on the night of the flood... That's a tearjerker. The Dutch earned their nickname Masters of Water management because of this, besides the „reclaimed land from the sea" projects... 👊🏼🇳🇱✌🏼

[@sirBrouwer]

Neeltje Jans is the amusement next door. the concrete bunker on top is called the Topshuis. If you go in to the building you can see how insane thick those walls are.

[@toekkababy5329]

The dutch are the smartest people on earth,should let them govern the world

[@bruceleewayne8252]

Na chill.

[@AnubisofScorpio]

It would be by committee

[@studiovbmedia8415]

As a Dutch citizens I have to say no. Our government can't even solve a cross word puzzle.

[@Joker-no1uh]

Indonesia knows all about that. Let's ask them 😂😂

[@williamhbk8676]

Inderdaad uitzonderlijk het Nederland!

[@sharpie842]

Excellently narrated video with lots of interesting facts. Shame UK can’t spend some money on its infrastructure.

[@zoltankaparthy9095]

Hey, really good. Very interesting and well done. As the Dutch say, "We built this nation and if we have to we can build another."

[@rikmetz4720]

My grandfather was the leader of the drawing chamber of oosterschelde and westerschelde. He didn't design it, but the drawing chamber made drawing scales for the size on scale.

[@yaiburanakul8505]

Thank you for making this short documentary about this impressive engineering project.

[@GoldenRuben1]

This a great video! Thank you! Greetings from the netherlands!

[@markmh835]

American here from the Pacific Northwest. Due to the dams and locks on the Columbia and Snake River system, my city sits about 40 feet below water level, but is protected by levies dutch-style which holds the water back and keeps the city from flooding. While not as big or high as the levies in New Orleans, the levies (now 50 years old) allow river shipping to take place at a height above the downrown level of the city. It always amazes me to be downtown and see boats and barges moving along the river ABOVE me. Storm water collects in levy ponds and must be pumped UPWARD to the river level. Few places in America have this kind of system, especially being 465 miles inland from the ocean.

[@catfootball592]

My great Uncle died on that ferry. He survived the U-Boats in the battle of Atlantic but not the weather.

[@fredherfst8148]

Enjoyed that. Thanks. I particularly appreciated learning about the many subprojects involved in the Delta Works and the overviews. 🇱🇺🇨🇦

[@pierQRzt180]

Every country should have such channel, showing notable projects that they did. Neat! One request. As far as I know the Dutch incredibly lags behind in adoption of wind energy production (compared to Denmark for example), despite their history of windmills and storms left and right. Would it be possible to make a video on that to explain why is it so?

[@BRTxNL]

Well, it would be a rather short video. The quick answer is a lack of local support because of a decrease in property value. The Dutch residents don't like to have a wind turbine in their backyard, because it lowers the value of property by about 5% in a radius of 3 kilometers around the turbine, especially with the bigger turbines. You might say; well, just build somewhere with no residents but that becomes quite the challenge as the Netherlands is one of the most densely populated countries on earth and the few open plots of land that are left are often assigned as farmland or nature reserves. Politicians therefor often choose to have smaller turbines placed (which generate significantly less power) in combination with solar panels. It would be more favorable to have a few big turbines that generate more power with less units, but they fear public backlash, thus our wind energy production lags behind. Also, with the housing crisis nowadays and a plethora of other issues surrounding things such as pandemics, war, climate change conspiracies, cost of living crisis, refugee crisis, etc. people aren't really blown away by an increase in wind energy production right now.

[@joostprins3381]

Easy, first they try to stow them through our throats, second, we don’t like a forrest of windmills to look at because wherever you put one, it’s viewable by a lot of people living around. We are the most populated country of Europe and the world (not counting city states). We just don’t have the space for houses, nature, farming and windmills.

[@ariebaudoin4824]

it is mostly because there is no political will, as you can see in earlier responses, the conservative types are NIMBYs, and the libs complain about the property value. It is a sad reality. we can build them in the sea, but that is slightly more expensive. There is a ton of meadows that would not suffer from property value loss, and would barely suffer from less argicultural productivity from a few windmills, so the two argument you got here are kinda bullshit imo. The property value argument is ofcourse also a self forfilling profacy, peoplle fearmonger over the effects that windmills have on a neighbourhood, and exegerate it massively. If we collectively agree that your property value will drop from having a windmill nearby it is also going to make the property value drop more. I have never actually had someone complain about having a windmill nearby, but i could be wrong on this, maybe there is people who are actually bothered by them outside of the effects of anti windmill propaganda. There is also a lot of propaganda that tries to throw doubt on the efficacy of wind and solar, i think fossel feul industries just have to strong a grip on our country it would be cool if we could use the historical image of windmills that pumped water to get more enthousiasm for making sustainable energy with windmills, but it is going to be verry difficult. Also storms are not a good thing for windmills bc they can not run during storms, but i get your point, we do have a lot of strong winds

[@ronaldderooij1774]

The liberal government (the 3 last ones) were of the opinion that wind energy parks were only allowed without government financial support. That was contrary to the rest of the world, where wind turbines are subsidised in one form or other. This slows down the development of wind turbine locations considerably. Add to this the very lengthy and complex procedures needed to do anything on physical development in this overcrowded small piece of land where everybody fights for every meter, and you have your answer.

[@arjanzweers6542]

As said above, no one wants these windmill parks in their backyards, and the Netherlands is the most densest populated country in Europe, aside from the microstates. People aren't against windmill energy, but there is little to no space left on land to build them where these windmills aren't intrusive. It's why the Dutch government opted to build windmill parks on sea instead. Solar panels on the other hand, those have become very popular

[@rasmAn2]

Dutch engineers are, almost without fault, encouragable. While when something is truly impossible, or seems like a dumb idea, we have no issue telling a someone so, when something seems remotely feasible, or worse, like a fun challenge, we'll sell you on it and make it happen. Pick a fight with the sea you say? No-one done it before you say? Seems like a giggle, let's have at it.

[@mpressprich]

Encouragable -> incorrigible

[@ecoideazventures6417]

The Dutch headwind cycling championship shows how this country can take up any challenge anywhere!

[@gelukkig1357]

I just found this channel. So manny interesting and educative videos. So happy. Maybe a suggestion for a follow upp video. How the dams impected the quality of water in the rivers, and what is being done to imptove it.

[@ReggieGreengrass]

Mooi heh, prachtig land hebben we toch:) bedankt voor de docu

[@retiredjan4714]

I am from The Netherlands 🇳🇱 and now we need to raise them again of alteast 3 meters (10 feet) Also we are updating the dijcks at the rivers at this moment.

[@tiaxanderson9725]

6:00 I like how the coast line stayed the same length in kilometers, but grew 10 miles :P

[@lukasrentz3238]

A few Years later, another severe Storm Surge struck further east. Especially Hamburg was affected badly. There 315 People died. 347 in Total. Bundeswehr was acting fast, which probably safed the life of thousands. We at least learnt from North Sea Storm Surges. Dykes in Hamburg are up to 9m above Sea Level by now. But we haven't really learnt from River Floods (something which the Netherlands also did since the 90s). We have a lot to learn and a lot to do in Germany. Hopefully fast enough before the next major Disaster.

[@bryansmith1920]

Please Understand as a 70yr old Brit, Who lives in the Fen Lands of North Cambridgeshire/South Lincolnshire UK, Only because of Dutch Engineering, I don't have a problem with the expression "aging white man" because I am one, and wouldn't be Living, where I live, if not for Mankind's ingenuity, And it's only going to get worse, I grew up 2mls from the Thames Barrier as it was Built with a father that was a civil engineering Tech College teacher, that told me, "It's not big enough"

[@collectioneur]

I am also an older white Dutch person and my ancestors built this country. I'm sorry if this offends anyone, but that's just the way it is

[@j.k.1239]

Great production.

[@wimschoenmakers5463]

If it ain't Dutch, it ain't much !

[@banaanbosse2565]

Name a rivalry more iconic than that of the Dutch and the sea. I'll wait.

[@akim.r671]

This video make me a proud Dutch man

[@calumashleymcdonough8955]

Wow! Fantastically well documented and presented video; thank you! I just subscribed. Growing up in Canada I had always heard about the Dutch dikes, but had no idea just how bold, and for the most part, successful this engineering feat was. I am curious what, if any, proactive (not in hindsight😉) plans are in place with global warming becoming more and more a challenge to low lying countries.

[@gerritstegeman2648]

I was 8 years old and glued to the radio 24 hours to follow the "Zeeland ramp" excellent recap. Thank you 👌🇳🇱💯👏 I also lived several years in Flevoland and realised what it meant to live 5 meters under sea-level 🛶

[@ghostindamachine]

If a major storm approaches that is large enough to trigger the Delta Works into action, the Netherlands becomes Fortress the Netherlands. Not impregnable. But we'll give Mother Nature a hell of a fight. As is written in Dutch on the storm surge barrier on the Oosterschelde: ‘Hier gaan over het tij, de maan, de wind en wij’. Meaning: "Here, the masters of tides are thus: the moon, the wind, and us."

[@pprehn5268]

As a child of Amsterdam 9n 1944 and my father's wish to emigrate to Canada I reminder they were accepting thousands of victim as immigrants and I have a book with photos of "De Ramp 1953" My cousin is a hydrolic engineer.

[@user-zz8sq5vv9c]

Great video! haha the upwind biking

[@StephenLocker]

Which we couldn't hold this year as it was too windy. :D

[@FrankHeuvelman]

Well you've got to think of something when you don't have mountains to give you a biking challenge.

[@anjummirza1452]

Excellent engineering project which is a text book example how to conquer the might of the storms...

[@philsarkol6443]

There are more countries in the world who could use a system to protect precious land and cities etc. We have made that choice to keep on battling with the sea, and it is an ongoing process of rebuilding, adjusting and renewal of our water/infrastructure.

[@NetarAlt]

Now, The Dutch should stop Glaciers from Melting

[@dimrrider9133]

we did already haha why because its a fairy tale ;p

[@rientsdijkstra4266]

@@dimrrider9133 Keep dreaming, bro.

[@dimrrider9133]

@@rientsdijkstra4266 keep believing bullshit sheep

[@dimrrider9133]

@@rientsdijkstra4266 Your really that stupid??? omg yes he is

[@leifharmsen]

I would love to participate in the headwinds bicycle championship!

[@BRGyt]

My dads from the Netherlands:) good video!

[@corvavw6447]

Het hele deltaplan ,chapo voor de uitvoering. Het onderhoud vraagt jaarlijks nog veel arbeid.

[@vincewhite5087]

Better than your confused geopolitical posts.

[@johnswarbrick2365]

Couldn't do this in the UK now. Discussions would take 10 years of public enquiries and protests from environmental groups concerned about the ecology of the areas. Then it would be scaled back due to its increasing costs.

[@chrisa5631]

What's wrong with being white, old and being a man?

[@Ronnlaxo]

Great Video

[@IesKorpershoek]

You forgot a few things, the maintenance cost of all the dams is enormous. A few years ago, they started bringing back tidal flow to many of the waters. As a scuba diver, I can tell the Grevelingen has never returned to its 'old' state. I can see changes in the ecosystem but not always for the better. The lobster population is diminished. Crabs and mussels are out of control.

[@stonedmountainunicorn9532]

Vroeger altijd een hekel aan die krabben bij de Grevelingen.

[@Plons0Nard]

I am Dutch and worked a while at the Eastern Scheld Stormsurge Barrier. Indeed a nice piece of engineering. About the white men in the committee: it triggered a lot of comments. I smiled when the narrator mentioned it. I liked the pun and felt not insulted, being caucasian and old. It is typical for the era we live in that toes have grown that long that it is easy to step on.😊 As for the sealevel rise : let us see how that works out. Every prediction so far about oncoming catastrophes has been wrong. There is a lot of wrong information out there, in the world. History gets rewritten, data altered, and all because there is a lot of money to make with alarming news. Thanks.

[@Kopirka55]

Nice video and great channel, I am quite surprised that you've got just 40k subs. Keep up the good work

[@paulheydarian1281]

Most people prefer watching silly cat videos and dancing bears. This channel is too good for most people.

[@Thorsten369]

Normally you don't wann a fight mother nature, but in this case we beat mother nature, unfortunately at the cost of many lives. The flooding was before my time but i'm still proud we had a damn solid plan.

[@geraldmiller5260]

The book The Tide in the Attic is a great read about this.

[@DT-wp4hk]

Sibce a lot of Dutch seem to drink vinegar. A new waterflood is needed. To clean the country up.

[@Bad_muts]

We only drink vinegar when it's on sale.

[@DT-wp4hk]

@@Bad_muts It is.

[@chin2gooner851]

I always keep saying that Venice should learn lessons from the Dutch.

[@WestWing99]

Why is everything on the internet regarded as crazy or insane? Buy a thesaurus and learn some new words

[@henktulp4400]

Nice vid!! Thumb+subscription!!

[@ai-d2121]

Infortunatelly the “ works” have had a devastating effect on nature. By the creation of fresh water lakes without much suppletion of new water during summertime in “ het Volkenrak” and “ Grevelingenmeer”, “ Veersemeer” etc, evasive species got their way and destroyed the environment, make recreational activities unpleasant etc etc. So there is a bit of a downside too.

[@TwanAardappelpan]

Really nice video! I was wondering though, what are the 650 houses on Walcheren referring to? Because with two cities on the island it seems like there would be more houses

[@HindsightYT]

I checked the sources of the video (which you can also find through the link in the description) and that particular number came from the Wikipedia page about Walcheren: nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walcheren I'm assuming that at the time of the bombing there were 650 houses? Today that's obviously no longer the case. What do you think?

[@ronaldderooij1774]

@@HindsightYT It must be a mistake, I would guess more like 65000 houses....

[@TwanAardappelpan]

@@HindsightYT Thanks for your answer! The source was just talking about the village of Westkapelle, so in that context the 650 seems to make sense. Glad it wasn't a higher number, but horrifying to think a whole village just got obliterated...

[@hendrikbuijs2641]

nice to see the Hollansche IJssel barrier. I was born in Krimpen aan den IJssel

[@58sefaa]

2:57 love my beautiful city Middelburg

[@Danielstoner]

I always enjoy your videos. Informative and factual. What was the purpose or your intent by mentioning “yes, they are all aging white men“? 1959 in Denmark ?

[@rientsdijkstra4266]

Denmark??? What's Denmark got to do with it?

[@Silver_Prussian]

Aging white men, Yes dutch people have white skin colour, why did you said it as if that was a problem ?

[@dennisklomp2361]

That in general it has proven to be better to include diversity into comittees. Include some young and aspiring engineers both for preserving experience into the future and to give new insights. Most of the men of the original comittee were retired or dead halfway through the project. Women have been found to take safety aspects more into account and have a finer eye for detail. The project took a huge risk by creating a tide funnel for 10-15 years, I doubt a fenale engineer would have allowed that to happen. Of course this was 70 years ago so no surprises there, but the idea that a comittee should only exist of old white men is rightfully outdated.

[@Silver_Prussian]

@@dennisklomp2361 huh, here is the problem with that line of thinking. Simply hiring someone because of a trait thats outside of their control is absolutly disrespecting toward that person and the person who actually deserves the position. What did MLK die for ? Not for this circus we live in, thats for sure. You judge a person by their actions, by their skill, not by external factors that have nothing nothing to do with who they are as a person and what they can do. We are suppose to live in a meritocracy arent we ? The whole madness with diversity does not correlate with that ideal. For the simple reason that you are depriving actually qualified people from the job and the spot they deserve and at the same time implying that the person that was hired, got the position only because of said external factors outside their control, they feel like they have no real value

[@dennisklomp2361]

@@Silver_Prussian I tend to keep out of that swamp because it quickly becomes hostile and based on people's assumed feelings and assumed weakness, instead of the reality I work in where I need to inspire and put people's strength to good uses. But, for the sake of the argument: your line of reasoning assumes two weird things. 1. Your theory assumes that those old white men got hired based on their quality alone, not because they were old white men. And then afterwards you start to apply that reasoning on other groups. That's just.. faulty. 2. We are talking about jobs here that have a high baseline for required skills. It's impossible to be an engineer "just" because you're a woman or "just" because you come from a certain culture. It requires trained and dedicated skill, that gets peer reviewed multiple times per week. You can't have an engineer be a woman just because they're a woman. They're an engineer because they're an engineer and the fact that they're a woman gives new insights into the field of engineering. It can be a plus, just as experience or age or character is. To think that my words suddenly mean that they should just pick a woman of the street and throw her in the comittee is ridiculous. I believe its called a strawman argument but I hate these discussions so I am no expert there. And if an engineer thinks they got the job *just* because of those kinds of aspects, they need to get some pride in their skills. You earned the title through skill, why still question your capabilities. Same for young and old people. See the strength that your background gives you, take some pride in that.

[@Silver_Prussian]

@@dennisklomp2361 1 you assume those old white men dont deserve their positions and arent qualified for their positions simply because they are old and white. At the same time you belive that the youngsters would know better than their elders which is hardly the case. Very few are the raw talents with vision from young age and many are those who must first learn from expirience. 2 I was talking in general not specifically for the case but it cane still be applied if you have to chose between two engineers which are both good but one is slightly better than the other would you chose the one who has better credentials or the one who has those factors needed to meet the diversity quotas ? If you hire a woman engineer and she offers new insights it not because she is a woman but due to her personality I am not strawmaning you just explaining why this forced (yes it is very much so) divercity lesds to nothing good as what matter is an individuals character and actions, not their age, sex or skim colour. You ask why do people doubt themselves ? Why do they not have or lose confidence in their abilities. Thats an answer each an every individual must find for themselves.

[@Desperado070]

@@Silver_Prussian he has no idea what he is saying, he is like that KZbin doctor knowing it all but never been to school for it. Honestly all these hate bots look like the KZbinr making this video is behind them. They make no sense and are pure random just like he's comments on the matter, they are just racists

[@Smonjirez]

Everyone: You can't fight against mother nature. The Dutch: SAY THAT AGAIN

[@Brozius2512]

We don't fight mother nature, we work with her!

[@ereisner2438]

Holland is oké, thank you good work ❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤

[@aloiseaux767]

At 4:40 the "aging white men" part is so unnesscary.

[@adrianklapwyk7963]

So proud of the Dutch.❤

[@ThePandaOfYourMind]

In 1953 the ocean declared war on the Dutch. We won.

[@peterfreeman1585]

If it ain't Dutch, it ain't much.

[@thijs5167]

4:33 Why is it necessary to name the age and skin color of the men? I don’t care what age they are and how they look like, I only care about how good they’re doing the job. Please stop with the woke nonsense…

[@yaiburanakul8505]

I think he did it "tongue in cheek" with a nod to the current political winds.

[@lukevandevenis9780]

Why not create a dam/installation further inland to reduce or even eliminate the pollution in the water? And maybe make it in such a way it could also generate electricity. Then you’ll have multiple ways to improve the environment and have sustainable energy. (Just thinking out loud, I have no idea about the legitimacy of this idea)

[@kempo_95]

The water needs to be able to flow to the sea. Better to clean the water before it's dumped. But that's mostly to the Germans.

[@bonniepoole1095]

Here in the US, when disasters happen, we stare in disbelief, become baffled and then do nothing. In our paralysis, we offer "hopes and prayers."

[@halorecon95]

The situation isn't that different in the Netherlands. It was a totally different generation that achieved this. One that was willing to sacrifice anything for the safety of the people and the country. Today, the opposite seems to be true.

[@PeterM_K]

@@halorecon95 more recently the programme 'ruimte voor de rivier' has been completed and even the next 20 years 2000km of river dikes will be replaced or strenghtened. We are still working on it, even if you can not see it in the press each day.

[@MakerInMotion]

But if the disaster is in another country we offer billions of dollars, manpower, equipment, and expertise.

[@jimmydickson8854]

Brilliant engineering

[@cern1999sb]

The southern most channel was left open. How was it that this one was ok when the others were not?

[@ds5267]

Why the dig about "aging white men?" The native, indigenous Dutch were and are Caucasian, and almost completely so in 1953. It has been so for millennia. Were you implying some sort of racial discrimination? Why would you expect anything else? Lose the reverse-racist asides, stick to facts, and I will respect your work much more.

[@DanDanDoe]

Well, it’s not just race, but also gender and age. Having a more diverse group of people can help identifying blind spots and decrease risks of tunnel vision. It’s noteworthy that at the time young engineers, and female engineers, weren’t included.

[@ds5267]

@@DanDanDoe All I can say is "good grief."

[@tomhermens7698]

Very good.

[@Langevloei-NL]

Land of Wind and Water.

[@illumencouk]

Colour film camera technology was used during the latter years of WW2. This flood occurs roughly a decade later. This event, technology and 1950 don't all fit the context, so something is wrong.

[@brandondebrouwer6741]

Great video, but “aging white men” is an unnecessary and polemic comment.

[@TCELL24]

Gotta appeal to the american audience somehow.

[@joostprins3381]

Name one project as big as this not by a white or yellow man?

[@HindsightYT]

I’m surprised that so many people already picked up on that. Honestly, I didn’t give it too much thought. I noticed that they’re all of the same demographic and came up with that comment, but honestly didn’t intend to include it to please an American audience, and neither did I intend to imply any criticism. But I understand why it might be perceived that way, since most of the rest of the video is more journalistically neutral. I’ll take note of this ;)

[@joostprins3381]

@@HindsightYT you shouldn’t, it’s just a factual comment of what you see at the picture, in that time there were no colored people in that kind of positions in the Netherlands (because the amount of colored people in that time was about 0% in the Netherlands). That’s just a fact, and when we can’t name facts anymore you are on a slope. As long as you keep to the facts you can’t insult someone. Like the world record 100 meter at the moment is ran by a black person (and has been for the last 7 decades), I don’t feel offended as a white man, it’s just a fact.

[@XxXx-Evo]

I would love to tell you this description was true then, but it is not anymore, but I'm afraid not a lot has changed. I would love to have more civil engineering colleagues that do not fit the description 'old white man'. We do OK with 'young' white man, we do have some women (even in higher places), but hardly any people with a non dutch background. I'm not sure why: Maybe we have a bad name, for not being paid very well (that's true), maybe people think you become dirty from your work (not true, a lot of people, like me, spend their days behind a laptop), maybe people think we do not welcome different people (partly true, most of my coworkers would love more diversity, and love to have me (woman) in their team but not all civil engineers do). Any suggestions to change this?

[@user-cx5ni7me6l]

top video's ! : )

[@EASYTIGER10]

Why was the Grevelingen Dam built where it was, exposing most of both islands to even higher tide and storm surges? Why didn't they just build a dam at the west end in the first place?

[@hansvandijk1487]

Excellent video! Greetings from the Netherlands 🇳🇱.

[@peterparadis6788]

Why mention age, race, and sex? that has nothing to do with this topic.

[@youric101]

in our day and age this now more important than getting the job done, that's why it takes so long and expensive. you are 100% on point.

[@Cheese-eseehc1]

Hey man where do you get these clips from

[@MaartjeTosca]

Like almost all other English maritime expressions, even the word 'sluice' is derived from the Dutch 'sluis'.

[@engelinaschuurmans7648]

We are smart and genius.

[@MrTiti]

so WHY is the Biesbosch polluted, when Rhine-water comes in? Or Rain water? It has always been the same, hasnt it?

[@Desperado070]

we own the water

[@jurjenvanderhoek316]

Wrong: the water is owning us.

[@Desperado070]

@@jurjenvanderhoek316 This is water being blown over the dams, no dam has failed, had je maar niet naast een dijk moeten wonen, Gelderland is boven zee level ... 😂

[@Brozius2512]

No we work with it.

[@Harald-]

If you ain't Dutch, you ain't much!

[@benjik3161]

america would just rebuild and count the hours until another catastrofie the netherlands makes it its gold