The most beautiful tunnel in the Netherlands has been given a biography. Former tunnel manager Henk van der Maas wrote a wonderful book about the Maastunnel. He talks about the doubts about safety during construction, the four hundred thousand tiles and the three belligerents who were the first to go through.
Since its construction, countless cars, cyclists and pedestrians have already passed through the Maastunnel. However, during construction there were still serious doubts as to whether it would ever come to that. Worldwide the road tunnels were built around and quite deep under the riverbed. The Maastunnel was rectangular and was sunk to the bottom and secured there. Never before had a tunnel been constructed in this way. And then concrete was also used instead of steel. If only that would go well!
In the trade magazine De Ingenieur an alarming article by engineer C. Tellegen appeared in 1937. He warned ominously of subsidence leading to leakage. It did not upset the Rotterdam engineers. They were convinced that everything would go well, partly because of an invention by the Danish professor Bretting to fix the tunnel sections properly to the bottom. All in all, it was a fine piece of innovative engineering art, which resulted in many imitations. After construction, the Maastunnel was soon no longer the only one of its kind. The Rotterdam approach was copied all over the world.
The Maastunnel has now become an integral part of Rotterdam. It is one of the icons of the city, just like the Erasmus Bridge, the Laurenskerk, the Markthal and the Groothandelsgebouw. But unlike these eye-catchers, the Maastunnel is hidden under the water of the Nieuwe Maas and therefore perhaps less conspicuous.
It is quite right that a biography of this building has now been published and author Henk van der Maas shows that he is the right person to write it. The former tunnel manager not only has a lot of experience and knowledge, but also has a golden pen. The result is a beautiful book, richly illustrated and in which a lot of attention is paid to both personal stories and the science behind the construction of tunnels.
Ballhams
The Maastunnel has an eventful history. The plans arose long before the Second World War. Due to the increasing number of cars and the growth of the port, it was necessary to better connect the north and south sides of the city. Construction continued during the war and the official opening was in 1942, which the Nazis would carry out together with the NSB municipal council. But that didn't happen. The story goes that at the moment supreme 'three bellboys' with broken shoes and torn clothes quickly ran through the tunnel tube first.
It was grist to the mill of the people of Rotterdam, who would rather have three street rascals open the tunnel than the occupier who had destroyed the city. Remarkably enough, several boys claim that they were the first to run through the Maastunnel, Henk van der Maas concludes. It's one of the beautiful stories he included in his book. At the end of World War II, the Nazis wanted to blow up the Maastunnel when the Allies approached. Explosives were applied and it took several sabotage attempts by the resistance to prevent an explosion.
Engineers with guts
After the war, Rotterdam was rebuilt and the city and port experienced considerable growth. The Maastunnel consists of four tubes, two of which are for cars and one for cyclists and another for pedestrians. It soon became very crowded in and around the tunnel. Bicycle traffic jams arose in front of the entrance and order had to be guarded by police officers.
Van der Maas shows how closely the turbulent history of the Maastunnel is intertwined with the story of Rotterdam in the twentieth century. He describes how engineers dared to opt for a new approach in the South Holland city, how great the influence of the war was and how Rotterdam, together with the Maastunnel, recovered afterwards. The icon of the city is currently being renovated and made future-proof. Fortunately, because Van der Maas shows in an excellent way how important and fascinating this beautiful tunnel is.